ED SLAVIN'S ST. AUGUSTINE (Folio Weekly)

January 3, 2019, 11:47 am

≫ Next: The War on Cars Is Real, and It's Being Led by Cities: Congestion pricing is just one way cities are actively engaged in reducing the number of cars and the amount of driving. (Car and Driver)

≪ Previous: Nonprofit staff and tour guides are keeping South Florida national parks clean. (Miami Herald)

From this week's Folio Weekly Magazine, my nominations for the best and worst of St. Augustine and St. Johns County, Florida, including elected officials, lawyers, developers, non-profits. What do you think?

THE MAIL:

SLAVIN’S ST. AUGUSTINE

I VOTED IN FOLIO WEEKLY’S “BEST OF SAINT

Augustine” readers’ poll (online now). Please do better

next year.

The list of faux pas is longer than the list of Sheriff

David Shoar’s sins, torts and crimes:

Misspelling local beloved guitarist-songwriter-wit

Sam Pacetti’s name. Listing Patrick Canan’s law firm

TWICE in several categories. Allowing business owners

to nominate themselves. Listing “Seaside Villas” in

several categories, despite massive code violations

reported by the St. Augustine Record for several years,

and under administrative adjudication before St.

Augustine Beach Code Enforcement Board.

Just five or fewer options, the wrong ones, in some

cases (and no write-ins allowed–how bossy is that?).

You can vote every day?

Contrary to Folio Weekly’s history and tradition,

the categories don’t make waves with the local

Establishment. There are a few serious categories, like

environmental activists, with only two (2) options (no

write-ins allowed)–HARRUMPH, how haughty!

As Gertrude Stein said, there’s “no there there”

in the nominations’ approach to St. Augustine. The

character of our town, our people, history and nature

and businesses are barely hinted at by this first effort.

Most of the nominations involve places to spend

your money, of which there is no shortage here.

Folio Weekly’s nomination categories are far more

intriguing than The St. Augustine Record’s dull “Best

of St. Augustine” list, which was unadorned by any

categories not involving sales of goods or services.

Good start! Let’s do better next year, please.

Here are my nominations, FYI:

Best Mayor

Nancy Shaver, St. Augustine

Worst Mayor

Undine George, St. Augustine Beach

Best First Amendment Lawyer

• Thomas Elihah Cushman • William Sheppard

• Bryan DiMaggio

Best Public Interest Lawyer

• Megan Wall • William Sheppard • Tom Cushman

Best City Manager

John Patrick Regan, P.E., St. Augustine

Worst City Manager

Bruce Max Royle, St. Augustine Beach (falls asleep in

meetings)

Best Investigative Reporter

on St. Augustine & St. Johns County

• Anne Schindler, First Coast News (ex-Folio Weekly)

• Walt Bogdanich, The New York Times

• Susan Cooper Eastman (ex-Folio Weekly)

• Jared Keever, The St. Augustine Record

• Jake Martin, ex-St. Augustine Record

Best Lawman

• Robert Hardwick, St. Augustine Beach Police Chief

• Barry Fox, St. Augustine Police Chief

Worst Lawman

• St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar

• Deputy Jeremy Banks • Undersheriff & General

Counsel Matthew Cline • James Parker, ex-St.

Augustine Beach Police Commander, now at State’s

Attorney Office

Best Whistleblower–Conscience of Our Community

• Ex-Deputy Debra Maynard • Jeffrey Marcus Gray

• Capt. Lee Geanuleas, U.S.N. (Ret.) • Tom Reynolds

• B.J. Kalaidi • Kenneth McClain

Best Elected Official

• Jeanne Moeller, Anastasia Mosquito Control

District of St. Johns County • Mayor Nancy Shaver,

St. Augustine • Vice Mayor Margaret England,

St. Augustine Beach • Commissioner Maggie

Kostka, St. Augustine Beach • County

Commissioner Henry Dean • County Commissioner

Jeb Smith

Best Former Elected Official

• Sherman Gary Snodgrass, ex-St. Augustine Beach

Mayor/Commissioner

• Ben Rich Sr., ex-County Commission Chair

• Joseph Kenneth Bryan, ex-County Commission Chair

Worst Current Elected Official

• Sheriff David Shoar • Richard Burtt O’Brien,

St. Augustine Beach City Commission

Best Nonprofit Group

St. Augustine Historical Society (and Research

Library)

Worst Putative Nonprofit Group

• St. Augustine Beach Civic Association Inc. (dodgy

501c4 that once ran Wednesday Farmer’s Market)

• St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office Four Star

Association Inc. 501c3

Worst Developments

• Antigua • Madeira • Fish Island (proposed)

• The Collector Hotel (once Dow Museum of Historic

Homes) • Embassy Suites Hotel, St. Augustine

Beach • Nocatee (another Leviathan Levittown)

Dodgiest Developer

• David Barton Corneal • Hutson

Companies

• D.R. Horton • PARC Group

Most Ineffectual Trade Association

• Chamber of Commerce • Board of

Realtors

Best Local TV News

• News4Jax • First Coast News

Most Promising Local Newspaper

Folio Weekly

Worst Local Newspaper

• St. Augustine Record • St. Augustine

Beaches News Journal • The Florida Times-Union

Worst Local Employer

• Sheriff David Shoar • St. Johns County School

Board • Flagler Hospital • City of St. Augustine

Beach • Tourist traps underpaying workers,

sometimes in cash under the table. • A potato

farmer whose crew leaders were convicted of

enslaving workers.

Worst Radio News on Local Issues

• WFOY (ex-mayoral candidate Kris Phillips’

Limbaugh-loving Hate Radio hobby)

• WFCF (Flagler College “Radio With a Reason,”

which has no news but carries a 15-minute city of

St. Augustine weekly PR program)

• WJCT (Jacksonville NPR affiliate neglects St.

Augustine and St. Johns County news. During

December 2018 partial government shutdown, it

read a press release about Jacksonville National

Park Service facilities being closed, never

mentioning St. Augustine’s Castillo de San Marcos

and Fort Matanzas were closed. Ouch.)

Biggest disappointments

• University of Florida management of state-owned

Colonial Quarter with contract to Pirate Museum

owner Pat Croce

• Sheriff David Shoar

• St. Augustine Beach Mayor Undine Celeste

Pawlowski George

• League of Women Voters–no public local candidate

election forum in 2018

• St. Augustine Record (and its new oligopolistic

corporate master, GateHouse Media, neglecting

its watchdog function since it was founded by

Henry Flagler’s frontman in 1895.)

Ed Slavin

via emai

↧

The War on Cars Is Real, and It's Being Led by Cities: Congestion pricing is just one way cities are actively engaged in reducing the number of cars and the amount of driving. (Car and Driver)

January 3, 2019, 9:25 pm

≫ Next: Michael Bloomberg awards St. Pete $2.5M to mitigate climate change. (Florida Politics)

≪ Previous: ED SLAVIN'S ST. AUGUSTINE (Folio Weekly)

Car and Driver features editor Jeff Sabatini should come to St. Augustine, Florida, where our Nation's Oldest City is smeared, bleared and teared by cars, a cut-through city being destroyed by too many cars. Ironically Our Town was once saved by investments by hotelier, railroader and Standard Oil monopolist Henry Morrison Flagler (whose Big Oil company fueled the internal combustion engine).

I hope St. Augustine institutes whatever legal, constitutional mobility limitations on eighteen wheelers and cut-through traffic that can yield fewer cars and greater happiness for residents, businesses and tourists.

Full disclosure: I am one of the "carless." Never had a driver's license.

Do Sabatini's views seem just a tad overwrought, starting with the histrionic headline (WAR on cars)?

He is right -- cities are trying to solve car-related problems, to wit, congestion.

His last paragraph is accurate -- by limiting cut-through traffic -- perhaps 1/4 of all cars crossing our historic Bridge of Lions -- we can make driving more pleasant for the rest of us.

From Car and Driver:

The War on Cars Is Real, and It's Being Led by Cities

Congestion pricing is just one way cities are actively engaged in reducing the number of cars and the amount of driving.

By JEFF SABATINI

Dec 26, 2018

Pat Perry

When they come for our cars," imagined the founding fathers of this magazine, "Big Government will be behind it." This stood to reason, as that was the case with safety mandates, emissions regulations, and the double-nickel era, the policy triumvirate that so riled the libertarian spirit of this institution in years past.

Short of an outright ban, the feds, aided and abetted by the bureaucracies of certain states, would most certainly continue their overreach, eventually all but proscribing the car via requirements too onerous to meet. Uncle Sam's safety nannies, fuel-economy standards, and untenable restrictions on the very act of driving itself would make new cars so dull, slow, and expensive that we would welcome riding the bus. Or so we thought.

This is not how the war on cars is playing out. City governments are the ones taking the lead in creating policies to curtail automobile use in response to congestion and pollution. There are taxes, restrictions, and prohibitions, of course, yet other policies on road design, speed limits, and parking are being devised to entice city dwellers to opt out of car ownership all on their own. At least that is the hope.

Getty Images

Driving up Interstate 5 through Washington State, the traffic starts to build by the time you get to the capital city of Olympia. There are still 65 miles to go until Seattle, and the car crunch of Puget Sound only intensifies as you travel farther north. By Tacoma, it is crawling along, bumper to bumper much of the time. If it were not for the stands of conifers and other greenery along the roadside, it would feel like Los Angeles.

Of course, L.A. has the worst traffic in the world, according to the INRIX 2017 Global Traffic Scorecard; Seattle ranks ninth in the U.S. But in nearby Everett, a bedroom community 25 miles north of downtown, commuters face the highest peak-congestion rate in the country. And traffic is getting worse: In its most recent assessment of the state's highway system, the Washington State Department of Transportation said that congestion in the area rose 22 percent between 2014 and 2016. When it comes to making Seattleites edgy, traffic is more effective than a venti Starbucks. And it makes them motivated to tackle the problem.

In growing cities around the globe, it is a familiar one: too many cars. According to the Seattle Times, among big cities, Seattle has the most cars per capita in the U.S. Traffic jams are just part of the dilemma. Passenger vehicles account for half of Seattle's greenhouse-gas emissions, which the city has pledged to reduce in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement. To meet its 2030 target, Seattle needs to cut transportation emissions by 82 percent, vehicle miles by 20, and emissions per mile by 75, all from 2008 levels. So Seattle is trying to alleviate its overabundance of cars through public-policy changes.

When it comes to making Seattleites edgy, traffic is more effective than a venti Starbucks.

"All transportation planning is social engineering," says Mark Hallenbeck, the director of the Washington State Transportation Center at the University of Washington. "We've spent 100 years making it easy to drive. We've spent 100 years making it really hard to take a bus. So people drive, because it makes sense."

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

That may change in Seattle, which could become the first U.S. city to adopt a congestion tolling system, similar to those in London and Stockholm. Seattle mayor Jenny Durkan has said she wants to have a plan in place by 2021. In September 2018, Seattle was awarded a $2.5 million grant from former New York City mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's American Cities Climate Challenge, money that will be spent, in part, to study and implement such a plan.

One researcher at the RAND Corporation think tank describes congestion charges working "just like a tap," allowing cities to cut traffic immediately and permanently. When London's flat-rate tax for driving into the city center went into effect in 2003, traffic levels fell by some 20 percent, a result mirrored in Stockholm three years later. In 2017, London took the concept even further and began levying a "toxicity" toll on vehicles that do not meet certain emissions standards entering the congestion zone during the business day. In April, it will expand the charge to cover more vehicles and extend enforcement to 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Restrictions on driving in big cities are not new—Mexico City has used rolling driving bans since 1989—but they are becoming more common. Paris had enacted temporary bans to combat air pollution before launching a new system in 2017 that bars older vehicles from the city center during the business day and makes all drivers buy and display a corresponding emissions sticker. Hamburg, Germany, banned some diesels in 2018; similar bans are forthcoming in Berlin, Frankfurt, and Stuttgart. Other European capitals that have either enacted or proposed some sort of car ban include Brussels, Madrid, Oslo, and Rome. Last summer, New York City banished cars from Central Park.

Fees and restrictions are just the blunt end of the stick. Cities are also dangling carrots to reduce the concentration of cars on their roads, acknowledging that commuters will only be willing to give up their cars if alternatives become more attractive.

"Making other options appealing often means you have to take away something from cars," says Hallenbeck. "Realistically, in a dense urban environment, cars take up too much space. Land is valuable."

In Seattle, hundreds of street-parking spaces have been removed to make room for buses and streetcars—helping mass transit move quicker—and to create protected bike lanes, making commuting on two wheels less harrowing. (The city has even followed San Francisco's lead in establishing a "parklet" program to allow street-parking spaces to be converted to public spaces, many resembling outdoor cafés.) The city began lowering speed limits in 2016 as part of its Vision Zero campaign, including adopting a 20-mph residential limit and dropping the downtown speed limit from 30 mph to 25. The Vision Zero Network, a nonprofit effort to eliminate traffic fatalities, now counts 34 U.S. cities among its ranks, promoting measures to make public-transit use, bicycling, and walking safer. To that end, within the past five years, other cities such as Boston, New York, and Portland, Oregon, have lowered their speed limits as well.

Bicycling magazine named Seattle its best bike city last year, principally because of how many protected lanes it has built. Yet, bike commuting in the city fell to its lowest level in a decade, with just 2.8 percent of Seattleites riding to work in 2017. The total number of bike commuters also dropped.

Seattle is also trying to incentivize you to give up your car. In April 2018, its city council voted to ease parking requirements for developers so that more housing can be built without commensurate parking. Zoning requirements usually force developers to ensure a minimum number of parking spaces associated with their projects, which adds construction and land costs that get passed on to residents. The new law requires landlords to separate the costs of rent and parking and allows them to independently lease parking spaces to anyone. Eliminating these requirements and unbundling parking from rent theoretically lowers the cost of housing for those who opt out of owning a car.

Again, Seattle is not alone here. Buffalo, New York, removed minimum parking requirements city-wide in 2017, and many other municipalities, from Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Miami to Bozeman, Montana, have been reevaluating a decades-old planning philosophy that seeks to ensure ample parking everywhere, for both residential and commercial properties.

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Tearing up zoning requirements is but the first step in eliminating abundant parking, which urban planners have begun to view not as a solution to having too many cars, but as the root of the problem.

The founder of this parking-reform movement is Donald Shoup, a professor and economist at UCLA and an advocate for market-based parking. Shoup claims that current parking practices are to blame for many transportation ills that could be solved by doing away with free or underpriced parking and charging more for spaces in high-demand areas.

"Our parking policies have greatly increased the number of cars," says Shoup. "The problem is that we have removed parking from the market economy." Shoup thinks that drivers are not paying enough to park most of the time. With so much free or cheap curb parking available in cities, car owners are actually receiving a subsidy, one that disadvantages other modes of transportation. It is a similar economic argument to one made in defense of congestion charges—drivers need to more directly foot the bill for the infrastructure their cars require, and when that bill comes due, more people may choose not to drive.

"Some people think I'm part of the war on cars," says Shoup, "but I'm not. Cars are great. It's just that we overuse them. We ought to be neutral about the use of cars, so long as they pay the proper price."

Determining that price will no doubt prove as difficult as judging the efficacy of any of these measures that aim to remake cities with fewer cars. It is a sure bet that the planners' consideration criteria will not include the personal relationship we have with our cars. Politics, geography, and demographics ensure that Seattle's approach will be a non-starter elsewhere. The city has more cars than ever before, yet the number of households that have given up owning a car is on the rise, more a byproduct of the growing millennial population than anything coming out of city hall.

The war on the car has been superseded by the war on cars, plural.

Other developments have brought unintended consequences, too: A recent study of Uber and Lyft estimates these services contributed an extra 94 million miles of driving in Seattle in 2017. The same study finds that their primary competition is not privately driven cars, but public transportation, walking, and biking; were these ride-hailing services not available, about 60 percent of users would have used other means to accomplish these trips without a car. The carless are anything but, in other words.

The war on the car has been superseded by the war on cars, plural. Or more to the point, the war on the status quo. If there is a silver lining to all this, it is that not everyone needs to give up their cars to reduce congestion. Road systems work well, right up to the point that they stop working, when those last few cars choke off the flow of a road and everyone sits idling, tailpipes spewing, wasting fuel.

Sitting in traffic in downtown Seattle is as frustrating as anywhere else, even if it looks a bit different. There are more signs and stripes on the pavement than in, say, Phoenix. There are bike lanes that are actual lanes, not just stripes.

The city feels as if it is in the early stages of transforming itself. Maybe its policies will cut down on congestion and provide a boon to those who actually like to drive.

From the January 2019 issue

↧

Michael Bloomberg awards St. Pete $2.5M to mitigate climate change. (Florida Politics)

January 4, 2019, 3:57 pm

≫ Next: Millions face delayed tax refunds, cuts to food stamps as White House scrambles to deal with shutdown’s consequences. (WaPo)

≪ Previous: The War on Cars Is Real, and It's Being Led by Cities: Congestion pricing is just one way cities are actively engaged in reducing the number of cars and the amount of driving. (Car and Driver)

Wouldn't it be great if Michael Bloomberg made St. Augustine one of the cities awarded money to help mitigate climate change? With Mayor Nancy Shaver's leadership, I would not be one bit surprised.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg meets with St. Pete Mayor Rick Kriseman to discuss climate action plans.

HEADLINES

Michael Bloomberg awards St. Pete $2.5M to mitigate climate change

Janelle Irwin Taylor

January 3, 2019

Former New York City Mayor and potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg, through his philanthropic organization, is awarding the city of St. Petersburg $2.5 million to help combat the effects of climate change.

Bloomberg announced Thursday that St. Pete will be the 20th city in the nation to win his American Cities Climate Challenge.

“Fighting climate change and changing the economy really do go hand in hand. That’s something mayors understand even though the White House does not,” Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg is the current UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Climate Action. He has been a vocal champion for climate action, recently calling on any candidate who runs against President Donald Trump in 2020 to make climate change mitigation a top priority.

St. Pete is one of 25 cities that will receive $2.5 million awards. The Bloomberg program will work with those cities to accelerate efforts to tackle climate change and create a more sustainable future.

“We have limited resources and having resources from the outside is really going to help us,” St. Pete Mayor RickKriseman said.

The city will use the funds to build upon its growing list of environmental-related projects including becoming a 100 percent clean energy city. St. Pete is also in the process of developing an Integrated Sustainability Action Plan to integrate sustainability and resiliency efforts throughout all of its citywide departments.

That includes a Clean Energy Roadmap with five pathways including increasing energy efficiency in existing buildings, building new, efficient infrastructure, creating and procuring renewable energy, developing smart and reliable energy systems and enhancing electric transportation options and reducing overall energy use.

The city will unveil additional details about its Integrated Sustainability Action Plan during an open house at St. Pete City Hall at 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

St. Pete is part of Bloomberg’s $70 million climate action challenge. The initiative is a byproduct of Bloomberg’s America’s Pledge initiative that aims to keep the U.S. in the Paris Agreement despite the Trump administration’s decision to withdraw. That effort calls on local city leaders and businesses to meet the terms of the Paris Agreement aimed at reducing the rate at which the world is warming.

Winners of Bloomberg’s climate challenge were chosen based on cities’ “ambitious” climate action plans and on whether or not cities had leadership in place to act upon those plans.

“You don’t want to give your money to a city where they’re not going to follow through,” Bloomberg said. “So we do look to see whether the Mayor has got a new term. [Kriseman] just got re-elected so he’s going to be around for a while. He’s popular. People want him to succeed. Those are the kinds of things you want in a Mayor so the money will be used intelligently.”

St. Pete joins 19 other cities in winning the challenge including Atlanta, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Columbus, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Saint Paul, San Diego, San Jose, Seattle, St. Louis, and Washington, D.C. Five additional cities will be announced later.

Winning cities of the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge receive technical assistance and a support package to help them achieve carbon reduction goals. That includes a philanthropy-funded team member to facilitate the development and passage of high-impact policies, training for senior leadership to assist with the implementation of proposed climate plans and citizen engagement support to maximize community buy-in.

St. Pete will work with Bloomberg Philanthropies to implement, among other things, a first-ever utility community solar program to bring cost-saving and energy efficient power to low-income areas in the city and an expanded residential solar co-op program.

↧

Millions face delayed tax refunds, cuts to food stamps as White House scrambles to deal with shutdown’s consequences. (WaPo)

January 4, 2019, 4:02 pm

≫ Next: Forcing Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Victim To Quit: State Senate Negotiates $900,000 Settlement to Compensate Florida State Senator JACK LATVALA's Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Victim

≪ Previous: Michael Bloomberg awards St. Pete $2.5M to mitigate climate change. (Florida Politics)

Earlier today, President DONALD JOHN TRUMP predicted the government shutdown could go on for months, or years. His pestilential obsession on an obsolete technology is a testament to his inhumanity and illogic. This will have effects on people nationwide, including here in St. Augustine and St. Johns County, an issue barely covered by local news media. Wonder why? The St. Augustine Record and the Jacksonville Florida Times-Union were among the very few U.S. newspapers to endorse TRUMP for President.

From The Washington Post:

Millions face delayed tax refunds, cuts to food stamps as White House scrambles to deal with shutdown’s consequences

NEW YORK — OCTOBER 07: A sign in a market window advertises the acceptance of food stamps on October 7, 2010 in New York City. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is proposing an initiative that would prohibit New York City's 1.7 million food stamp recipients from using the stamps, a subsidy for poor residents, to buy soda or other sugary drinks. Bloomberg has stressed that obesity among the poor has reached critical levels. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

By Damian Paletta and

Erica Werner

January 4 at 6:17 PM

Food stamps for 38 million low-income Americans face severe reductions and more than $140 billion in tax refunds are at risk of being frozen or delayed if the government shutdown stretches into February, widespread disruptions that threaten to hurt the economy.

The Trump administration, which had not anticipated a long-term shutdown, recognized only this week the breadth of the potential impact, several senior administration officials said. The officials said they’re focused now on understanding the scope of the consequences and determining whether there is anything they can do to intervene.

Thousands of federal programs are affected by the shutdown, but few intersect with the public as much as the tax system and the Department of Agriculture’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a modern-day version of food stamps.

The partial shutdown has cut off new funding to the Treasury Department and the USDA, leaving them largely unstaffed and crippling both departments’ ability to fulfill core functions.

The potential cuts to food stamps and suspension of tax refunds illustrate the compounding consequences of leaving large parts of the federal government unfunded indefinitely — a scenario that became more likely Friday when Trump said he would leave the government shut down for months or even years unless Democrats gave him money to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

The SNAP program is rare among federal initiatives because it requires annual funding from Congress but its existence is automatically renewed.

Congress has not allocated funding for SNAP beyond January, and their emergency reserves would not even cover two-thirds of February’s payments, according to past disbursements. Last September, the most recent month for which data is available, SNAP disbursed $4.7 billion in benefits to recipients across every U.S. state.

Lawmakers last year appropriated $3 billion into a “contingency” fund for SNAP. USDA officials would not comment on the status of the $3 billion, but if all of that money is still available, it would cover 64 percent of February’s obligations.

Agency officials have not said how they would address the shortfall, including whether they would prioritize who receives food aid or cut benefits for everyone across the board.

If the shutdown continues through March, there would be no remaining money for benefits.

“We are currently looking at options for SNAP,” said Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for the Department of Agriculture. “The best course of action would be for Congress to pass a legitimate appropriations bill to the President to end the lapse in funding.”

During the shutdown, the USDA office that administers SNAP has sent home 95 percent of its employees without pay, according to a flowchart on USDA’s website.

“People in this country will go hungry,” said Rep. Rosa L. DeLauro (D-Conn.). “It’s simple. They go hungry . . . These are working people. We’re not talking about people who are dogging it.”

The disruption would hurt both the families that receive them and grocers and other retailers where the money is spent.

Treasury Department officials, meanwhile, are trying to determine what to do with the flood of requests for tax refunds that will come in next month.

The Internal Revenue Service has sent home close to 90 percent of its staff without pay ahead of an extremely busy time for the tax agency.

From late January through March 2 of 2018, the IRS paid out $147.6 billion in tax refunds to 48.5 million households. That money could be frozen within the IRS if the refunds are stalled.

Early last year, as part of its contingency planning for possible government shutdowns, the Internal Revenue Service said it would not issue any tax refunds during a government shutdown. Treasury and IRS officials have not said they will completely suspend all tax refunds next month, but a senior administration official said they would be severely impacted and likely slowed even if they are paid.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Friday asking him to detail the impact of job cuts at the IRS and how the tax filing season will be handled during the shutdown.

“Please confirm whether the IRS will issue federal tax refunds at any time during government shutdown,” the letter said. “If so, please provide the anticipated date when the IRS will be issuing refunds.”

This could have an immediate impact on the economy, as well as on the finances of millions of Americans who frequently spend their tax refunds soon after receiving them. Treasury and IRS officials are expected to announce a plan in the coming days, people familiar with the process said.

Under normal schedules, tax returns for income earned in 2018 would be due Monday, April 15. People who anticipate receiving a tax refund, meaning they overpaid their taxes last year, tend to file their taxes as early as possible to recoup the funds quickly.

“It would be a huge political and economic hit for people who are expecting their $2,500 or $3,000 refund to not be able to get that money,” said Mark Mazur, a former top IRS official who served at Treasury during the Obama administration.

Trump has told Republicans and Democrats he’s willing to keep agencies shut down as long as necessary to force Democrats to appropriate several billion dollars for the construction of walls along the Mexico border. But some Republicans have expressed they are uncomfortable with this approach, and several this week sided with Democrats in their effort to reopen agencies immediately.

The scale of the consequences also reflects a deep disconnect between Trump, who has largely cheered on a prolonged shutdown, and the officials running federal agencies who are trying to minimize the fallout.

“If we have to stay out for a very long period of time, we’re going to do that,” Trump said Friday.

White House officials have not fully briefed lawmakers on the expanding consequences of the government shutdown, leading to confusion about what happens as each week goes by.

Neal said the IRS is considering bringing staffers back to work in the coming weeks to help deal with tax filings, but that its unclear how they will proceed. These employees would have to work without pay unless Congress passed an emergency funding bill. He said delays in tax refunds would lead to “more anger, for something that can be solved.”

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), a top House conservative who had cheered Trump’s approach in the political confrontation, said he was unaware that there would be any impact on SNAP benefits, convinced this money was automatically appropriated by Congress.

“Food stamps go on regardless,” he said. This is not the case, however, according to several senior administration officials.

Meadows said he was “not downplaying the potential consequences of a shutdown,” but said the whole situation could be easily resolved if Democrats would appropriate several billion dollars for a wall along the Mexico border.

The government shutdown began Dec. 22 after President Trump blocked a bipartisan deal to fund numerous federal agencies through Feb. 8 because he wants more than $5 billion to construct 200 miles of wall along the U.S. border with Mexico.

The shutdown began with an acute impact, cutting off funding to pay 800,000 federal employees, closing national parks and museums, and limiting federal services. The workers are expected to begin feeling the consequences of the shutdown more acutely next week, as they will miss their first paychecks on Jan. 11 if a resolution isn’t reached.

“A month into this, we’re going to see people start to get evicted and their cars start to be repossessed,” said David Borer, general counsel for the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 750,000 federal employees.

But a much broader part of the federal bureaucracy is expected to begin grinding to a halt next month after that.

Some nonprofit groups have been able to patch together money to keep certain parts of the government open for several weeks, but its unclear how much longer they can hold on. And none have sought to replicate the level of funding that would be lost under SNAP or stalled by tax refunds.

“That’s scary, really scary,” said Lyman Hafen, executive director at Utah’s Zion National Park Forever Project, a nonprofit partner of one of the U.S.’s most scenic parks. “It’s not a good situation without that support. We’re just taking it a day at a time, a week at a time.”

The cumulative impact of these changes could have a major impact on the economy.

Joseph Bruseuelas, chief economist at RMS U.S., an accounting and consulting firm, said a prolonged shutdown would shave an entire percentage point off the U.S.’s economic growth, in part because of an “uncertainty tax” that would freeze spending by households and businesses.

“If one doesn’t know what’s going to happen with respect to their own income . . . there will be a pull back on the purchase of big-ticket items,” he said. “Large firms will pull back on outlays on software, equipment and capital.”

↧

Forcing Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Victim To Quit: State Senate Negotiates $900,000 Settlement to Compensate Florida State Senator JACK LATVALA's Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Victim

January 4, 2019, 5:23 pm

≫ Next: Government shutdown: Federal inmates feast on Cornish hens, steak as prison guards labor without pay. (USA Today)

≪ Previous: Millions face delayed tax refunds, cuts to food stamps as White House scrambles to deal with shutdown’s consequences. (WaPo)

Florida State Senate General Counsel JEREMIAH HAWKES, son of a controversial former appellate judge and current lobbyist, negotiated a $900,000 settlement with Senate Appropriations Committee Chair JACK LATVALA's sexual harassment victim, which obliged her to quit working for the Senate and never apply for a job there again. So much for Florida Senate Republican Family Values conservatives.

Florida's Senate President unilaterally approved a $900,000 settlement with an alleged victim of sexual harassment by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Jack Latvala.

The settlement includes a provision barring the victim from ever applying for a job with the Florida State Senate again. That's wrong.

The settlement was negotiated by Florida State Senate General Counsel Jeremiah Hawkes, 41, a failed judge candidate who once worked for Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco -- Hawkes is the son of a lobbyist for judges and former Chief Judge of the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee, Paul M Hawkes.

Ethics charges were dismissed against the senior Hawkes over a $49 million "Taj Mahal" courthouse in South Tallahassee after he resigned, with the Florida Supreme Court finding the case moot, while maintaining continuing jurisdiction if Hawkes ever became a judge again. Florida Politics reports that the senior Hawkes was a prosecutor, a Republican legislator from Citrus County, a top staffer to Gov. Jeb Bush and two (2) Republican House speakers, Dan Webster and Tom Feeney, and a close friend of Education Commissioner designate Richrd Concern, former House Speaker. His clients include "Duke Energy, the Florida Conference of District Court of Appeal Judges, the Florida Medical Association, the Florida Public Defender Association, and the Florida State University Foundation. He also represented The Stronach Group, which operates South Florida’s Gulfstream Park. Stipanovich said he will continue to represent all those clients."

I've asked the Leon County State's Attorney for the files on his abortive investigation of Latvala. No Response.

I've asked OUR State Senate for OUR documents.

I've asked OUR State Senate to sue LATVALA for restitution of the amount paid out to the victim.

This $900,000 sexual harassment and retaliation settlement is being paid for by We, the People, the taxpayers of Florida. The alleged sexual harasser, Senate Appropriations Committee Chair JACK LATVALA, escapes criminal prosecution and personal accountability. As my mentor, former USDOL Chief Judge Nahum Litt told me in 1985, when a government manager sexually harasses, retaliates or commits discrimination, the wrongdoer should pay personally. Will the Florida State Sente bring an action to require LATVALA to reimburse the Senate for the $900,000 being paid to his victim?

It's our money.

No documents from these rebarbative retromingent reprobate reptilian Tallahassee Republicans, yet.

Here's the correspondence:

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Fri, Jan 4, 2019 8:40 pm
Subject: Re: Ed Slavin Request No. 2019-6: Florida State Senate $900,000 EEOC sexual harassment and retaliation settlement in Rachel Perrin Rogers v. State Senator Jack Latvala, et al./ florida Senate Public Records Request #19

Dear Mr. Hawkes:
1. Will the Florida State Senate -- or its insurance company -- please file an action against JACK LATVALA for restitution of the $900,000 settlement?
2. Please send any documents researching the law on this option.
3. Please call me to discuss.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
www.edslavin.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
Sent: Fri, Jan 4, 2019 8:14 pm
Subject: Ed Slavin Request No. 2019-6: Florida State Senate $900,000 EEOC sexual harassment and retaliation settlement in Rachel Perrin Rogers v. State Senator Jack Latvala, et al./ florida Senate Public Records Request #19

Dear Mr. Hawkes:
1. Please call me to discuss.
2. Please send me the requested documents.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
www.edslavin.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: PublicRecordsRequests
Sent: Fri, Jan 4, 2019 6:14 pm
Subject: Re: Ed Slavin Request No. 2019-6: Florida State Senate $900,000 EEOC sexual harassment and retaliation settlement in Rachel Perrin Rogers v. State Senator Jack Latvala, et al./ florida Senate Public Records Request #19

Dear Ms. Perez:
1. The Florida State Senate's delay is disdainful and disrespectful to the public's constitutional Right to Know, voted by 83% of Florida voters in Article I, Sec. 24, Florida Constitution.
2. Please send documents. Now.
3. As James Madison wrote, "Knowledge will forever govern ignorance: And a people who mean to be their own Governors, must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
4. Please call me today to discuss.
5. Please include "Request No. 2019-6: Florida State Senate $900,000 EEOC sexual harassment and retaliation settlement in Rachel Perrin Rogers v. State Senator Jack Latvala, et al." in the title of all e-mails and correspondence.
Thank you.
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
904-377-4998
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
www.edslavin.com

-----Original Message-----
From: PublicRecordsRequests
To: Ed Slavin
Sent: Fri, Jan 4, 2019 5:09 pm
Subject: Public Records Request #19

Dear Mr. Slavin:

The Senate received your public records request dated January 4, 2019, for the following:

· “Please send me all of the documents on Rachel Perrin Rogers v. State Senator Jack Latvala, et al., involving a reported $900,000 EEOC settlement re: sexual harassment and retaliation by former State Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Jack Latvala. Please include all draft settlement agreements and documents on discussion and discussion between the parties, negotiations on the amount and terms of settlement, legal filings, analytical statements of position, briefs, EEOC and court investigative statements, affidavits, depositions, etc.”

A response to this request will be given in a reasonable amount of time. Should this request result in an extensive use of Senate information technology resources, clerical or supervisory assistance, an extensive use fee estimate will be provided for approval prior to processing the request.

The Senate provides this response pursuant to Article 1, Section 24 of the Florida Constitution, section 11.0431, Florida Statutes, and Senate Rule 1.48. Under Article 1, Section 24(c) of the Florida Constitution, each house of the Legislature is exclusively authorized to adopt rules governing the enforcement of the maintenance, control and disposition of public records with respect to their own public records.

The Senate will be in contact should any additional information be needed. Otherwise, a notification will be sent once the records are ready for release.

Sincerely,

Michelle

Michelle Perez
Public Records Manager
Office of the Senate General Counsel
302 The Capitol
404 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1100
Phone: (850) 487-5237
Fax: (850) 487-6444

Here is the POLITICO article on the settlement:

The Florida Capitol building is pictured. | Flickr — Perrin Rogers was one of six women who told POLITICO in November, 2017 — anonymously at first — that disgraced former Senate budget chief Jack Latvala sexually harassed. | Flickr

Perrin Rogers resigns, settles for nearly $1M with Senate

TALLAHASSEE — Top staffer Rachel Perrin Rogers will resign from the state Senate on Friday after settling with the chamber for nearly $1 million over sexual harassment and workplace discrimination allegations.

As part of the settlement reached last month, the Florida Senate will make a one time $900,000 payment to a trust account held by the law firm of Perrin Rogers’ attorney, Tiffany Cruz.

All parties had been barred last month from discussing the case, which was reviewed in federal administrative court by Judge Alexander Fernandez. That gag order was lifted when the case was dismissed on Wednesday.

Perrin Rogers, the top aide to future Senate President Wilton Simpson, directed POLITICO to her resignation letter, dated Dec. 19.

“I feel an immense sadness that at this time I am no longer able to do this work for you in the Senate. Thank you for your unwavering support,” Perrin Rogers wrote in the letter, which was addressed to Simpson. “Having the opportunity to assist as you’ve served your constituents has been an honor.”

She had no further comment.

Several prominent politicians may have had to testify if the case had progressed, which could have forced them to talk about some of the Legislature's skeletons under oath. Among those Perrin Rogers wanted to put under oath were Simpson, disgraced former Senate Budget Chair Jack Latvala, former Senate President Joe Negron, Senate Rules Chairwoman Lizbeth Benacquisto, Florida Senate counsel and lobbyist George Meros, St. Petersburg publisher Peter Schorsch and even Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, according to court records.

Perrin Rogers was one of six women who told POLITICO in November, 2017 — anonymously at first — that Latvala sexually harassed them by groping them or making lewd and demeaning comments. She followed those accusations with a confidential Senate complaint.

Following two explosive probes into Latvala’s behavior by the Senate — one of which determined that he likely harassed and groped Perrin Rogers — he resigned last January. One of those reports said Latvala might have broken state law by engaging in a sex-for-votes offer with a lobbyist with whom he had an affair, but the state attorney declined to prosecute.

Senate spokesperson Katie Betta told POLITICO through a written statement on Thursday that Fernandez had always recommended “mediation as a solution that would bring a more timely resolution to what had already become a protracted and public employment matter.”

Betta added: “President [Bill] Galvano believed the matter would continue to negatively impact the parties and distract from the important work of the Senate, while legal fees mounted for all involved. For those reasons, President Galvano authorized the recent mediation which led to the settlement. The settlement brings this matter to a conclusion that allows both parties to move forward.”

Here are Paul M. Hawkes' 2018 legislative lobbying clients:

Paul M. Hawkes

Mailing Address:

101 N Monroe Street
Suite 1090
Tallahassee, FL 32301

Phone Number:

(850) 212-3067

Principals:

• Lobbyists registered to lobby the House and Senate will not display any chamber reference.
• Lobbyists registered to lobby one chamber and/or the PSCNC (Public Service Commission Nominating Council) will display the names of the entity(ies) next to their names (e.g., (Senate, PSCNC)) within the principal's information.
• Lobbyists registered to lobby all three legislative entities will display all entity names (e.g., (House, Senate, PSCNC)).

Autolotto

Autolotto
#1052
San Francisco, California 94131
Industry Code: 511210 Software publishers
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Bradford County School Board

501 W Washington St
Starke, FL 32091
Industry Code: 236220 Educational building construction
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

City of Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency

100 W Atlantic Boulevard
2nd Floor; Suite 276
Pompano Beach, Florida 33060
Industry Code: 925120 Community development agencies, government
Effective Date: 2/21/2018

Coalition of Ignition Interlock Manufacturers

Po Box 523172
Springfield, VA 22152-5172
Industry Code: 441310 Automotive parts and supply stores
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Conference of County Court Judges

339 E Macclenny Ave
Suite 21
Macclenny, FL 32063
Industry Code: 922110 City or county courts
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Dixie County School Board

16077 NE Hwy 19
Cross City, FL 32628
Industry Code: 611110 Elementary and Secondary Schools
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Dosal Tobacco Corporation

4775 NW 132nd St
Opa-locka, FL 33054
Industry Code: 312230 Cigarettes manufacturing
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Duke Energy Corporation

550 S Tryon St
Charlotte, NC 28202
Industry Code: 221122 Distribution of electric power
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Experian Information Solutions, Inc

900 17th St NW
Suite 900
Washington, DC 20006
Industry Code: 561450 Credit bureaus
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Florida Chapter American College of Cardiology

3208 E Colonial Dr
Suite 264
Orlando, FL 32803
Industry Code: 621111 Cardiologists' offices (e.g., centers, clinics)
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Florida Conference of District Court of Appeal Judges

2000 Drayton Dr
Tallahassee, FL 32311
Industry Code: 922110 Courts of law, civilian (except American Indian or Alaska Native)
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers

3544 Maclay Blvd
Tallahassee, FL 32312
Industry Code: 921110 County supervisors' and executives' offices
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Florida Greyhound Association

Po Box 21237
Sarasota, FL 34276-4237
Industry Code: 813920 Professional associations
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Florida Medical Association

Po Box 10269
Tallahassee, FL 32302-2269
Industry Code: 541820 Lobbying services
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Florida State University Foundation

2010 Levy Ave
Building B, Suite 300
Tallahassee, FL 32310
Industry Code: 611310 Academies, college or university
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Government Services Group

1500 Mahan Dr
Ste 250
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Industry Code: 541611 Administrative management consulting services
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Green Point Consultants

914 Railroad Ave
Tallahassee, FL 32310
Industry Code: 531190 Agricultural property rental leasing
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Guardian Group

20380 Halfway Rd Ste 1
Suite 1
Bend, OR 97703-6997
Industry Code: 813319 Public safety advocacy organizations
Effective Date: 3/9/2018

Marsy's Law for All

9500 W Flamingo Rd
Suite 203
Las Vegas, NV 89147
Industry Code: 813311 Human rights advocacy organizations
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Pinch A Penny, Inc

6385 150th Ave N
Clearwater, FL 33760
Industry Code: 453998 Swimming pool supply stores
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Safety Net Hospital Alliance of Florida

101 N Gadsden St
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Industry Code: 813910 Business Associations
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics, Inc

1600 SW Archer Rd
Gainesville, FL 32608
Industry Code: 622310 Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

South Central Florida Express, Inc

900 S W C Owen Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 482112 Short-line railroads
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Groves Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 311411 Juices, fruit or vegetable, frozen, manufacturing
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Holding Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 115112 Disease control for crops
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Nursery Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 111421 Fruit stock (e.g., plants, seedlings, trees) growing
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Processing Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 311411 Juices, fruit or vegetable, frozen, manufacturing
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

State Farm Florida Insurance Co.

285 Peachtree Center Ave
Ste 1200
Atlanta, GA 30303
Industry Code: 524126 Property and casualty insurance carriers, direct
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

Marquis 2 Tower
Suite 1200
Atlanta, GA 30303
Industry Code: 524126 Insurance carriers, property and casualty, direct
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

The Able Trust

3320 Thomasville Road
200
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Industry Code: 624310 Vocational rehabilitation or habilitation services (e.g., job counseling, job training, work experience)
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

United States Sugar Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 111930 Sugarcane farming, field production
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Universal City Development Partners, LTD dba Universal Orlando

1000 Universal Studios Plaza
Plaza B-5
Orlando, FL 32819
Industry Code: 713110 Theme parks, amusement
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Vertical Bridge Holdings, LLC

750 Park of Commerce Dr.
Suite 200
Boca Raton, FL 33487
Industry Code: 531190 Equity real estate investment trusts (REITs), primarily leasing real estate (except residential buildings and dwellings, nonresidential buildings, miniwarehouses, and self-storage units)
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Watershed Technologies, LLC

3208 Westchester Dr
Cocoa, FL 32926
Industry Code: 562910 Environmental remediation services
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Wexford Health Sources

680 Andersen Dr
Pittsburgh, PA 15220
Industry Code: 621999 Medical care management services
Effective Date: 1/25/2018

Here are Paul M. Hawkes' 2018 Florida executive branch lobbying clients:

Paul M. Hawkes

Mailing Address:

101 N Monroe Street
Suite 1090
Tallahassee, FL 32301

Phone Number:

(850) 212-3067

Principals:

Autolotto

Autolotto
#1052
San Francisco, California 94131
Industry Code: 511210 Software publishers
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Bradford County School Board

501 W Washington St
Starke, FL 32091
Industry Code: 236220 Educational building construction
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

City of Pompano Beach Community Redevelopment Agency

100 W Atlantic Boulevard
2nd Floor; Suite 276
Pompano Beach, Florida 33060
Industry Code: 925120 Community development agencies, government
Effective Date: 2/22/2018

Coalition of Ignition Interlock Manufacturers

Po Box 523172
Springfield, VA 22152-5172
Industry Code: 441310 Automotive parts and supply stores
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Conference of County Court Judges

339 E Macclenny Ave
Suite 21
Macclenny, FL 32063
Industry Code: 922110 City or county courts
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Dixie County School Board

16077 NE 19 Hwy
Cross City, FL 32628
Industry Code: 111110 Soybean Farming
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Duke Energy Corporation

550 S Tryon St
Charlotte, NC 28202
Industry Code: 221122 Distribution of electric power
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Experian Information Solutions, Inc

900 17th St NW
Suite 900
Washington, DC 20006
Industry Code: 561450 Credit bureaus
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Florida Conference of District Court of Appeal Judges

2000 Drayton Dr
Tallahassee, FL 32311
Industry Code: 922110 Courts of law, civilian (except American Indian or Alaska Native)
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers

3544 Maclay Blvd
Tallahassee, FL 32312
Industry Code: 921110 County supervisors' and executives' offices
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Florida Medical Association

Po Box 10269
Tallahassee, FL 32302-2269
Industry Code: 541820 Lobbying services
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Florida State University Foundation

2010 Levy Ave
Building B, Suite 300
Tallahassee, FL 32310
Industry Code: 611310 Academies, college or university
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Government Services Group

1500 Mahan Dr
Ste 250
Tallahassee, FL 32308
Industry Code: 541611 Administrative management consulting services
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Green Point Consultants

914 Railroad Ave
Tallahassee, FL 32310
Industry Code: 531190 Agricultural property rental leasing
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Guardian Group

20380 Halfway Rd Ste 1
Suite 1
Bend, OR 97703-6997
Industry Code: 813319 Public safety advocacy organizations
Effective Date: 3/11/2018

Marsy's Law for All

9500 W Flamingo Rd
Suite 203
Las Vegas, NV 89147
Industry Code: 813311 Human rights advocacy organizations
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Pinch A Penny, Inc

6385 150th Ave N
Clearwater, FL 33760
Industry Code: 453998 Swimming pool supply stores
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Safety Net Hospital Alliance

101 Gadsden St
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Industry Code: 813910 Business Associations
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

Shands Jacksonville Medical Center

655 W 8th St
Jacksonville, FL 32209
Industry Code: 622310 Specialty (except Psychiatric and Substance Abuse) Hospitals
Effective Date: 1/2/2018

South Central Florida Express, Inc

900 S W C Owen Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 482112 Short-line railroads
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

South Central Florida Express, Inc.

900 S W C Owen Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 482112 Short-line railroads
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Groves Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 311411 Juices, fruit or vegetable, frozen, manufacturing
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Holding Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 115112 Disease control for crops
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Nursery Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 111421 Fruit stock (e.g., plants, seedlings, trees) growing
Effective Date: 1/18/2018

Southern Gardens Citrus Processing Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 311411 Juices, fruit or vegetable, frozen, manufacturing
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

State Farm Florida Insurance Co.

285 Peachtree Center Ave
Ste 1200
Atlanta, GA 30303
Industry Code: 524126 Property and casualty insurance carriers, direct
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company

Marquis 2 Tower
Suite 1200
Atlanta, GA 30303
Industry Code: 524126 Insurance carriers, property and casualty, direct
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

United States Sugar Corporation

111 Ponce De Leon Ave
Clewiston, FL 33440
Industry Code: 111930 Sugarcane farming, field production
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Universal City Development Partners, LTD dba Universal Orlando

1000 Universal Studios Plaza
Plaza B-5
Orlando, FL 32819
Industry Code: 713110 Theme parks, amusement
Effective Date: 1/4/2018

Vertical Bridge Holdings, LLC

↧

Government shutdown: Federal inmates feast on Cornish hens, steak as prison guards labor without pay. (USA Today)

January 5, 2019, 5:41 am

≫ Next: Beach commission to hear proposed parking plan — some residents resisting (HCN)

≪ Previous: Forcing Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Victim To Quit: State Senate Negotiates $900,000 Settlement to Compensate Florida State Senator JACK LATVALA's Sexual Harassment, Retaliation Victim

Good article in USA Today about how Florida federal prison inmates ate steak and Cornish hens for holiday dinners, while their federal prison guards go unpaid due to President Trump's government shutdown. The dinners are "good for morale," but unpaid prison guards? President Trump owns this, and the other sequelae of his government shutdown, now in its second week.

Among the federal prisoners at Florida's Coleman Federal Correctional Institution enjoying lovely Christmas and New Years dinners -- while federal prison guards go unpaid due to the TRUMP government shutdown -- are two local fraudfeasors from Northeast Florida

CORINNE BROWN, disgraced former Congresswoman (D-Jacksonville), federal prison inmate number 67315-018 (release date 06/06/2022), convicted of fraud involving a phony charity. http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2018/01/corrupt-former-us-rep-corrine-brown.html
LYDIA CLADEK, federal prison inmate number 53820-018 (release date 09/21/2037), convicted in a $100,000,000 fraud scheme involving investors in 29% interest car loans. http://cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com/2017/09/where-are-they-now-fraudfeasor-lydia-i.html

Government shutdown: Federal inmates feast on Cornish hens, steak as prison guards labor without pay

Kevin Johnson, USA TODAYPublished 6:40 p.m. ET Jan. 4, 2019 | Updated 8:20 p.m. ET Jan. 4, 2019

With the partial government shutdown stretching into 2019, here's what you need to know about the effects. USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Even as the government shutdown dimmed the holidays for hundreds of thousands of federal workers, inmates in the nation’s largest federal prison were treated to a display of culinary largesse that many of the workers saw as badly timed.

Instead of the usual scrambled egg or hamburger lunch, thousands of prisoners at the Coleman Federal Correctional Complex just outside of Orlando tucked into a Christmas spread of herb-dusted Cornish game hens, cornbread dressing, gravy, rice pilaf and assorted pies.

A week later, they rang in the New Year with grilled steak, black-eyed peas, green beans, macaroni and cheese, biscuits and more pie.

Special holiday menus have been a staple for years within the Federal Bureau of Prisons to promote morale, officials said. But the generous meals – served up as the federal shutdown churned on – highlighted an increasingly raw struggle by workers, many at the lowest rungs of the government pay scale who live paycheck to paycheck.

"This is appalling," said Coleman prison union chief Joe Rojas. "We're not getting paid, and the inmates are eating steak. The inmates know what's going on; they know about the shutdown, and they are laughing at us."

Many of the federal prison system's nearly 39,000 staffers are among the most modestly paid in the federal system, with some entry-level officers earning about $38,000 per year. Yet few federal agencies have been exposed to the added stress of a system-wide staffing shortage, which has forced hundreds of secretaries, teachers, counselors, cooks and medical staffers to cover open guard posts across 122 prisons just in the past year.

During the shutdown which is headed into its third week, more than 90 percent of agency guards and other staff have been pressed into mandatory duty.

With no compromise in sight, Eric Young, president of the national prison workers union, said Friday that he was warning members to prepare for perhaps a month without a paycheck.

President Donald Trump and lawmakers emerged Friday afternoon from their latest round of talks at the White House, only to indicate that an agreement could be a long way off.

Trump, who has demanded $5.6 billion to help pay for a disputed border wall, later acknowledged warning Democrat leaders that an impasse could last for months or even years if a deal cannot be reached on financing for the wall.

"It sickens me to know these politicians would play politics ... with our staffers' livelihoods after working the most stressful job in America," Young said. "These are the same law enforcement officers who are charged with the ultimate responsibility to keep prisons and communities safe all across America."

Now, he said many workers are "completely distracted from their work" and focusing on keeping up on debts.

Few agencies have endured a year as difficult as the federal prison system. Apart from the persistent staffing shortages, officials have been forced to answer to sexual harassment claims and problems managing 12,567 female inmates.

Executives at the U.S. Bureau of Prisons received bonuses totaling more than $2 million despite ongoing problems. USA TODAY

In May, the bureau's director, Mark Inch, abruptly resigned after less than a year on the job.

Earlier this week, a congressional review also found that misconduct by senior federal prison officials is “largely tolerated or ignored altogether.”

More: Congressional report: Misconduct by federal prison leaders 'ignored' and 'covered up' on a regular basis

The shutdown is proving to be the latest challenge for the embattled agency.

Rojas, the union chief at the Coleman, Florida, prison complex, said that up to a dozen officers were designated or threatened with a designation of being absent without leave, or "AWOL," when they did not immediately report as the shutdown took effect just before Christmas.

"Talk about adding insult to injury," Rojas said. "These were people, some who were on long-planned leave with their families, had pre-paid travel. The government is not going to cover those expenses."

AWOL designations subject workers to possible disciplinary action, including suspension without pay.

Rojas said he believed that prison officials were re-considering the actions after the union had intervened.

In an email response to questions Friday, a prison spokesperson said that the agency did not have "specific numbers" on workers who had been classified as AWOL.

"If an ... employee refuses to report for work after being ordered to do so, he or she will be considered to be absent without leave (AWOL) and will be subject to any consequences that may follow from being AWOL," the spokesperson said.

Perhaps most symbolic of the recent challenges confronting officers arrived on the prisoners' meal trays on Christmas and New Year's Day.

"That really p__ off our people," Young said. "You are seeing prisoners getting steak, roast beef and Cornish hens, and you can't put that kind of food on the table for your own family. That isn't right."

During the holidays, the prison bureau said, it is common practice for the institutions to "prepare a special meal or offer special items to promote morale for the inmate population because they are separated from their families."

The agency acknowledged that inmates were served the special holiday meals, though the spokesperson said that the New Year's Day menu included roast beef – not steak.

A copy of the Coleman menu, however, listed "grilled steak" as the main course, a meal that garnered rave reviews by some inmates.

"I been eatin like a boss all week," Marques Demiko Brown, 20, wrote to a pen pal on the agency's computer system New Year's Day. "I just had steak, pie, chicken, potatoes, salad, mac nd cheese, rice, all type of s__ bro..."

Another prisoner, Terrance Johnson, 43, reported that he was ready for bed after "that dam steak got me full..."

"Steak," the friend responded via email. "whatttt. you eating better than me today..."

↧

Beach commission to hear proposed parking plan — some residents resisting (HCN)

January 5, 2019, 10:02 am

≫ Next: FLORIDA FIRE COLLEGE POLLUTES WELLS, DELAYS NOTIFYING NEIGHBORS. (Tampa Bay Times)

≪ Previous: Government shutdown: Federal inmates feast on Cornish hens, steak as prison guards labor without pay. (USA Today)

I applaud the St. Augustine residents resisting the hare-brained scheme to let a giant corporation profiteer from first-ever charges for parking, using a smartphone app. How much profit would PASSPORT make? Did the City of St. Augustine Beach violate the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment by shilling for local business owners (who get free parking in front of their businesses) while trying to make property owners pay to park in their own neighborhoods?

Still waiting on answers from the worst City Manager in St. Johns County, BRUCE MAX ROYLE, who falls asleep in meetings. It's time for that nasty man to go.

From Historic City News:

Beach commission to hear proposed parking plan — some residents resisting

January 4, 2019

A second special public meeting will be held to discuss the subject of paid parking within the City of St Augustine Beach on Tuesday, January 8, 2019 beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the commission meeting room of City Hall, located at 2200 A1A S, St Augustine Beach, FL 32080.

The purpose of next week’s special meeting is to discuss the comprehensive plan and a proposed pay-to-park mobile payment system. This is a public meeting and the public is invited to attend.

According to correspondence received by Historic City News this week, city manager Max Royle has informed commissioners, and at least one resident, that because of the special meeting to discuss matters specifically concerning the proposed paid parking system, the topic won’t be on the agenda for the regular meeting on Monday evening, the 7th. However, Royle said, “You can speak to the commission about the system on Tuesday, the 8th.”

Planning to speak at the Tuesday evening meeting? You can verify any requirements directly with the City Clerk, Beverly Raddatz, MMC, by calling (904) 471-2122 or email to braddatz@cityofsab.org

According to an announcement from Cindy Walker, Marketing and Communications Coordinator for the City of St Augustine Beach, commission members Tuesday will first review with the planning consultant, Janis Fleet, proposed changes to the comprehensive plan. Then, the Commission will discuss the pay-by-phone parking system and related matters.

The concept of a comp plan amendment, particularly to levy a new tax in the form of parking fees, has met with some controversy. “A” Street residents, Denny and Laurel Dean, have been asking to address the city commission with a presentation that includes a PowerPoint slide presentation, copies of lot maps, correspondence between the resident and city hall, as well as excerpts from Florida statutes related to proper notice and protocol for changing property use.

The City has responded, at least in the case of the Deans, however, the Deans persist in their position that they were denied the opportunity to address to commission to air their grievances in a request on December 17, 2018. They have asked again, this time to make the presentation on Monday evening; however, because of the subject, they are being told that the topic will not appear on that night’s agenda — they will have to appear on the following night.

The Deans are also requesting copies of certain public records including “a copy of any deed or instrument where the property owners of the following subdivisions conveyed their common elements to the City of St. Augustine Beach”. In an e-mail, Laurel Dean asked, “I would like a copy of the list of all of the property owners who were notified by mail of the City’s intention to encroach on their common elements for the purpose of generating revenue for the City by inserting paid parking on them.”

As to the list of property owners, the clerk replied with a spreadsheet of the owners in the area, and as to the deeds, the city manager referred the Deans to the St Johns County Property Appraiser’s office who maintains all lot maps with direct links to deeds recorded with the St Johns County Clerk of Court and tax bills maintained by the St Johns County Tax Collector.

If you would like to add your voice to about 150 residents who have completed a survey that Denny Dean says will show that about 95% of the residents are against establishing paid parking at the beach, visit Paid Parking in St Augustine Beach.

If you plan to attend either the regular business meeting on Monday or the special meeting on Tuesday, arrive early to get a good seat and bring popcorn (kidding).

↧

FLORIDA FIRE COLLEGE POLLUTES WELLS, DELAYS NOTIFYING NEIGHBORS. (Tampa Bay Times)

January 6, 2019, 9:44 am

≫ Next: Witness list in sexual harassment retaliation case included top legislators, insiders. (Miami Herald)

≪ Previous: Beach commission to hear proposed parking plan — some residents resisting (HCN)

This is unconscionable, and what often happens when the polluter is a government or government contractor.

In Oak Ridge, Tennessee, I won declassification of the world's largest mercury event, which the nuclear weapons plant contractor and lapdog federal managers kept secret until May 21, 1983.

In my swoon July 11, 1983 testimony before then-Representative Albert Gore, Jr. and two House subcommittees, I called for criminal prosecution of Union Carbide and Department of Energy officials. That never happened in Oak Ridge.

Nor did it happen at Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant in Colorado, were FBI Special Agent Jonathan Lipsky's search warrant affidavit documented hundreds of environmental law violations.

Environmental lawbreaking from nuclear weapons plants to state and local government agencies too often goes undetected and undeterred. While we've caught and partially remedied pollution by the City of St. Augustine, no one ever went to jail for it here, either. .

These Florida Fire College pollution victims in Ocala deserve the truth.

From Tampa Bay Times:

Florida officials delayed telling residents about tainted water, emails show

It took about four months for state health officials to notify Ocala residents about potentially elevated levels of the chemicals, emails obtained by the Times/Herald show.

Tim and Linda Lawson stand by the well outside their Ocala home. The Lawsons, who have lived there for 33 years, were told in November that the well is contaminated with elevated levels of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which early tests have suggested can be carcinogens. [SAMANTHA J. GROSS | Times/Herald]

By Samantha J. Gross and Elizabeth Koh

Jan. 3

OCALA — Linda Lawson thought little of drinking the water from the decades-old well in her backyard, less than half a mile down the road from the Florida State Fire College in Ocala. That changed when her daughter-in-law answered to state workers knocking on her door one afternoon. They came to test the water, a worker said.

She only began to worry when Mark Lander, the head of the Marion County Department of Health, came by at 8:30 one evening in early November with word that she shouldn't drink from the well anymore. The unlit dirt path to her Central Florida home almost never received visitors, especially at night, and her husband Tim even pulled out his gun with concern that Lander might be an escaped inmate from a nearby prison.

Lander, who declined to comment for this story, delivered a letter that night informing Lawson's family that chemical levels in their well water were higher than deemed safe. He gave them a couple cases of water and told them to drink only bottled for the foreseeable future before he disappeared back into the night.

In August, the Department of Environmental Protection confirmed that flame retardants containing perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) had been used at the Fire College in the past. In early September, the college was told to only drink bottled water.

Lawson's home was one of three well sites — a Marion County fire station and Texas-based mining company Lhoist North America were the others — where preliminary tests indicated the water had elevated levels of the chemicals, which early studies have suggested can be carcinogens. Other impacts in humans include high cholesterol, thyroid disorders, adverse reproductive and developmental effects and some types of cancer.

It took about four months for state health officials to notify Lawson and others in the community about potentially elevated levels of the chemicals, emails obtained by the Times/Herald show. In September state health officials began discussing means of informing the Fire College, but it wasn't until late October that they discussed notifying the rest of the nearby community. While state health officials debated for months how to word messages to those affected and put off informational open houses because of Hurricane Michael, neighbors bickered with local health officials asking when their water would be tested. Some preemptively began buying cases of water each week, fearing their own wells might be contaminated.

Recently, six former employees of the Fire College joined a class-action lawsuit against flame retardant manufacturers, alleging their exposure to toxic chemicals caused serious medical conditions including thyroid disease, breast cancer and kidney cancer — the same chemicals found in Lawson's drinking water.

Les Beitsch, a former deputy secretary in the Florida Department of Health, speculates that health officials delayed notifying Lawson and the two other well users because of the impending election. He was effectively fired in November, he said, because he pushed back against the idea of any delay in notifying well-water users of the problem.

Gov. Rick Scott's office rejected the suggestion that political considerations played any role in the notification timeline and directed reporters to the Department of Health for comment.

Through a spokesman, the Department of Health said it "immediately notified well owners of results" and have "worked diligently to obtain the necessary permissions to conduct additional private well sampling."

"Any assertion that this was not done as quickly as possible is false and irresponsible," said Nick Van der Linden, the department spokesman.

The department notified residents on Nov. 5 — two months after the Fire College started using bottled water and three days after tests results showed contamination in their wells.

Water contamination near the Fire College was made known to officials in early September after results came back from testing done by the state's Department of Environmental Protection. Of the 80 to 90 wells in a mile radius around the college, 16 wells were initially tested. According to emails obtained by the Times/Herald, levels of chemicals in the water at the college were found to be between 250 and 270 parts per trillion, more than three times higher than the advisable 70 parts per trillion for drinking water.

▪ On Sept. 9, the Fire College was given supplies of bottled water from the Department of Environmental Protection. On Sept. 12, the Fire College stopped using well water to prepare food in its cafeteria. During busy times of the year, about 50 students and 30 staff use the water on campus.

▪ On Oct. 2nd and 3rd, the DOH collected samples from 16 nearby wells, including the Lowell Correctional Institution (a women's prison), a convenience store/gas station, the mining company and seven residences.

▪ An Oct. 16 open house was scheduled to allow members of the public and the Fire College community to ask questions and get information about what was happening in their water supply. The open house was rescheduled due to limited time and resources after Hurricane Michael. It eventually happened on Dec. 4 — three months after the Fire College started using bottled water.

▪ On Nov. 2, the Department of Health got results back from the tests in early October and found four wells, including the Fire College, that showed elevated PFOS and PFOA levels.

▪ On Nov. 5 —two months after the Fire College started using bottled water and three days after test results showed far higher levels of contamination in their wells — letters were sent to notify Lawson and the fire station. On Nov. 6, Election Day, the mining business was notified. The Department of Environmental Protection installed filters for their wells and is providing a regular supply of bottled water for drinking, cooking, bathing and other household activities.

Those letters were supposed to be sent on Nov. 13, Beitsch said, but pushback from him and some of his colleagues spurred the Nov. 5 delivery.

All Lawson could gather from the two-page letter was that the Fire College might be connected to the water problem.

"We've known the Fire College was there. It's been there forever," she said. "I knew they did testing back there — fire drills and stuff like that — but I assumed they did water or whatever. I didn't even know they use a foam."

The flame retardant that contained the perfluorooctane sulfonate and perfluorooctanoic acid particles came in the form of a foam mean to cool the fire and to coat the fuel, preventing its contact with oxygen.

Other residents in the area say that — despite requirements that additional wells be tested — they did not hear for far longer if their wells had been tested or if the same chemicals had been found in their water.

In 2002, the primary U.S. manufacturer of PFOS voluntarily phased it out of production because it was aware of the looming chemical exposure and health effects on the public. In 2006, eight major companies in the PFAS industry voluntarily agreed to phase out production for the same reason. But the chemicals are made up of compounds that don't biodegrade, which allows them to remain in air, soil and groundwater for decades.

Though the health department began bringing Lawson's family five-gallon jugs of water after the letter was delivered, their well water — which tested for levels of PFAS and PFOA at 932 parts per trillion — is still being used for showering and washing dishes. In addition to Lawson, her husband, and their sons' families — eight people in total — they have used the bottled water for their five dogs: Jasper, Harley, Tennessee, Bama and Giz. Their aging horse, Cody, still drinks from the well.

Lawson hasn't noticed any health effects, she said, but she worries about how it might affect her or the children. "Ten years down the line, after we've drank all this water and tea and stuff, what's going to happen?"

When the mining operation received the notice, it stopped using the well water for drinking and notified employees, according to a written statement from the company. The test levels were 12,000 parts per trillion, about 170 times the advisable level.

According to Health Department emails obtained by the Times/Herald through a public records request, the mine's safety manager, Stephen Henrick, requested his home in Ocala be tested shortly after. He declined to comment.

A spokesman for the fire station in Ocala declined to comment as well.

Lawson said she still keeps the letter with her at work, where she weighs trucks for a local limerock company as a scale house operator.

A few more nearby wells were tested on Nov. 8 — a horse breeder, North Marion County Middle School and a carrier company.

On Nov. 28, more workers from the state came to install a filter on Lawson's well, though they were instructed to keep drinking bottled water for at least the next two months until more tests were conducted.

After Lawson heard from the state, she told some other residents. She also told one of her best friends, Miriam Flores, who lives just a few hundred yards from Lawson in a mobile home with her family.

At first, Flores said, she thought she would also hear from the state soon. But as days passed, Flores grew more and more worried. She warned two tenants in another mobile home on her property about the problem and advised them to buy bottled water. She began to call the Marion and Alachua County health departments, who both told her that they thought the issue was "nothing," she recalled.

"I don't think they care. They don't want nobody knowing anything, and it's scary," she said at the time.

After the Times/Herald began inquiring about the testing, officials finally came to test Flores' water Dec. 11 — a month after Lawson was first visited by health officials checking her well, and about three months after the department first learned of the problems in the groundwater surrounding the Fire College.

At Christmas, Flores and her family continued sipping from bottles of Zephyrhills water they had bought by the case: $5 each, two or three a week. Without answers, she increasingly worried about the water from the well her family has consumed for years, or even touching what comes out of the pipes.

She stopped letting her 5-year-old son, Fernando, brush his teeth with it. She even started washing the vegetables with bottled water. "Doesn't it go into your body, into your pores?"

On Dec. 28, an environmental administrator with the Marion County Department of Health finally gave her an answer, she said. Her water did test for levels higher than those at the Fire College: more than 20 times the acceptable level for drinking water.

Her options now are limited, she says. Health officials dropped off two cases of water but gave her no specifics on when they might install a filter on her well or if she might potentially have to pay an additional $30 to $40 a month to tap into the city's main water line instead.

Flores also can't just leave the three acres of property she's lived on for four years. Because of the elevated levels of chemicals, she worries the land is worth far less than what she paid for it.

"My property's value just went to crap," she said after she found out about the test results. "Not even the animals are supposed to drink it."

According to scripts sent to health department employees, when residents ask about using alternative water until the test results come back, the employees they are to say "no."

The script, obtained from the department by the Times/Herald, says employees are to answer:

"There is a very low risk of any effects from short-term exposure to PFOS and PFOA. There is no reason you need to change your daily routine and an alternative water supply is not necessary. If it is your personal preference, you may choose to utilize an alternative water for drinking, cooking or brushing teeth until your results are received."

The former deputy secretary, Beitsch, said he was aware of discussions going on within the department on how and when to test. He said his boss, DOH Secretary Celeste Philip, made it "very clear" that they were not to do "anything right now" at a meeting on Nov. 2. Beitsch said his training as a physician called for "sharing news of this nature in person and immediately," he said.

Beitsch, who is also a department chair at Florida State University's College of Medicine, stepped into the deputy secretary role last fall at Philip's request, he said. He retained his professorship at the university, which also covered his salary for the state government role.

"This absolutely crossed a line. It's disregarding possible human health consequences for whatever reason," Beitsch said. "To be doing it for reasons that are bad, like political process and elections, that would be intolerable, unacceptable and shouldn't be permitted."

Beitsch's boss at FSU, College of Medicine Dean John Fogarty, said the news that Beitsch's services were no longer required came "out of the blue."

"Dr. Philip called me and said 'Dr. Beitsch and I have had some disagreements and I think it's time to sever that relationship,'" he said.

Fogarty said Beitsch is "not shy about expressing [his opinions]," but is "very experienced, very mature and has a pretty good worldview on problems and issues."

Beitsch says he grew vocal to protect people like Flores, because "that's what public health is supposed to be about." He said it made him furious that people who don't have neighbors like Flores were — and are — still drinking contaminated water. He compared the whole situation to the lead-contaminated water in Flint, Mich.

"This is about being sure that our government organizations and agencies can do our job, that it's not politics governing science and it's not interfering with what's the right thing to do," he said. "That's been trampled on, overlooked."

Almost a week after Flores found out her well tested for substantially higher levels of the chemicals, she said she still doesn't know when officials will be back to address the situation. The well is supposed to serve her, her husband, her son and daughter, the two tenants, a friend and her baby who came to stay with them two weeks ago — but all of them will continue using bottled water until they hear otherwise.

Flores said she is frustrated it took nearly five months from when officials first suspected an issue at the Fire College for her to confirm that her water was contaminated. "They were trying to cover it up," she worried. "Why should I have to look on the Internet for answers?"

Days after the New Year, she said officials still kept telling her — even after giving her the well results — that the water issue was "not a big deal." She doesn't know when or if she will be able to drink water out of her own faucets again, and that her weeks of pleas for assistance will continue to go unaddressed.

"They didn't do what they're supposed to do," she said. "They're supposed to help people but they're not helping us. They messed up. They need to fix it."

↧

Witness list in sexual harassment retaliation case included top legislators, insiders. (Miami Herald)

January 6, 2019, 9:52 am

≫ Next: SOLVING BEACH EROSION: Will St. Augustine Beach and St. Johns County Get a "Sand Engine" or "Sand Castle" to Help Stop Erosion?

≪ Previous: FLORIDA FIRE COLLEGE POLLUTES WELLS, DELAYS NOTIFYING NEIGHBORS. (Tampa Bay Times)

After the EEOC ordered a hearing, with seventeen witnesses listed, the Florida State Senate:

Filed a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation against EEOC,
Settled with harassment victim Rachel Perrin Rogers for $900,000, requiring her to resign her job and agree never to apply for a Florida Senate job ever again.

From Miami Herald:

STATE POLITICS

Witness list in sexual harassment retaliation case includes top legislators, insiders

A defiant and confident Sen. Jack Latvala speaks to reporters in December 2017 about sexual harassment allegations against him by a Senate aide.

By Mary Ellen Klas

TALLAHASSEE

A Florida Senate aide who accused former state Sen. Jack Latvala of sexual harassment says Senate leadership retaliated against her after she made the complaint — and wants lawmakers, staffers and insiders to testify.

Rachel Perrin Rogers, a longtime staffer to Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, alleged in a discrimination complaint filed against the Florida Legislature in January with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that she was subjected to “retaliatory action” after she filed a sexual harassment claim against Latvala, the powerful Clearwater Republican and a former Senate budget chairman.

The complaint, which a federal administrative law judge ordered would move forward last week, alleges the Senate “knew, or should have known, of the unlawful conduct of Senator Latvala and did not take any steps to prevent his abuses and protect its employees.”

Since then, according to Perrin Rogers and her attorney, Senate leadership has continued to retaliate against her by launching an investigation of her after an internal complaint filed by a coworker and Latvala ally who has since left the Senate.

Perrin Rogers and her attorney, in a preliminary witness list filed Tuesday and first reportedby Politico Florida, named 14 people they want to testify, though more names are likely to be added before the Oct. 10 deadline.

The would-be witnesses include Latvala, Simpson and outgoing Senate President Joe Negron. The list also names Sen. Lizbeth Benacquisto, R-Fort Myers, with whom Perrin Rogers filed her sexual harassment complaint against Latvala, and Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, who filed her own rules complaint against Latvala for his response to Perrin Rogers’ complaint.

Several staffers are also among those Perrin Rogers and her attorney want to put on the stand: Ronald Swanson, the retired judge who served as special master of the investigation into Perrin Rogers’ sexual harassment complaint; Senate President chief of staff Cheri Vancura; Florida Senate counsel and lobbyist George Meros, and Jean Seawright, who was tapped to investigate the internal complaint against Perrin Rogers that she says was part of their retaliation efforts.

Also named are Attorney General Pam Bondi and St. Petersburg media operative Peter Schorsch, who the list asserts “has knowledge of the retaliatory media pieces he wrote about [Perrin Rogers] and who paid him to write such articles.”

Schorsch denied his organization’s coverage was retaliatory and said he does not engage in pay-for-play journalism. “I believe Rachel Perrin Rogers is a courageous individual. I regret not believing her at first,” he said. “I believe wholeheartedly that members of the Florida Senate attempted to negatively impact her life.”

In a statement shared with reporters, Negron denied Perrin Rogers’ allegations of retaliation.

“The Florida Senate has a zero tolerance policy regarding sexual harassment or misconduct of any kind against any employee or visitor,” Negron wrote. “The complaint of sexual harassment in this case was immediately and fully investigated. At all times the Senate has acted appropriately and there has been no retaliation.”

Latvala declined to comment.

Perrin Rogers was one of six women who were anonymously cited in a Politico report in November that alleged Latvala sexually harassed them, and she filed a confidential Senate complaint against Latvala shortly thereafter. Perrin Rogers came forward publicly with her complaint after she learned Latvala read her unredacted filing and details about her identity were disclosed.

The Senate conducted two independent investigations — one of which determined Perrin Rogers’ assertions that Latvala groped and harassed her were likely — and he resigned in January. Despite one of the reports concluding Latvala might have broken state law by engaging in a quid pro quo scheme of trading votes for sexual favors with a lobbyist, the Leon County state attorney declined to press charges.

Perrin Rogers, in an interview with the Herald/Times, said the Senate’s investigation, led by Seawright, has hindered her ability to do her job and made most of her coworkers “extremely uncomfortable around me.”

Rachel Perrin Rogers

courtesy Rachel Perrin Rogers

“Right after it [the sexual harassment complaint] came out, and even when I had private security in my office, they were extremely kind during that period,“ Perrin Rogers said. “Once all of this started and they were being called in [to be interviewed by Seawright], frankly they were very intimidated and scared. They’re distant and I can’t speak for what they think of me personally, but the way they treat me has certainly changed.”

Perrin Rogers also said about 30 percent of her duties — largely social media and communications — were reassigned to a political consultant.

Perrin Rogers’ lawyer, Tiffany Cruz, added that the Senate’s actions — and the lack of confidentiality preserved around Perrin Rogers’ complaint — have signaled to other employees to stay quiet about harassment. Cruz, an attorney with Friedman and Abrahamsen, also flagged the Senate’s investigation into Perrin Rogers as one of the key instances of the chamber’s retaliation.

The Legislature has yet to file an answer to Perrin Rogers’ complaint, but lawyers filed a motion to dismiss Tuesday, citing what they called procedural and legal defects with Perrin Rogers’ complaint. Among their arguments is the assertion that the “Florida Legislature,” which is named in the suit, is not technically her employer because the Senate is, though the Legislature is listed on Perrin Rogers’ pay stubs.

The case is scheduled to be heard in federal administrative court Jan. 14 in Tampa.

Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article219060750.html#storylink=cpy

↧

SOLVING BEACH EROSION: Will St. Augustine Beach and St. Johns County Get a "Sand Engine" or "Sand Castle" to Help Stop Erosion?

January 6, 2019, 10:25 am

≫ Next: 78 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump. (NY Times)

≪ Previous: Witness list in sexual harassment retaliation case included top legislators, insiders. (Miami Herald)

Dutch coastal engineers have come up with an elegant, cheaper, more natural way of replenishing sand on beaches.

No giant bulldozers, huge pipes or safety hazards interfere with enjoyment of our beaches.

This low-tech, appropriate technology promises to help save our beaches and save our money.

It is now being studied by federal and local officials in Washington, D.C. and St. Johns County:

From Maritime Journal:

DUTCH SAND ENGINE SOLUTION COMES TO THE UK

HOME
NEWS
MARINE CONSTRUCTION
MARINE CIVILS
DUTCH SAND ENGINE SOLUTION COMES TO THE UK

12 Sep 2017

Bacton Gas Terminal and residents of the surrounding Norfolk villages will benefit from Dutch experience as Royal HaskoningDHV completes the detailed design for an innovative coastal protection project.

It's the first time in the UK that sandscaping will be used to provide a sustainable long-term solution.

Royal HaskoningDHV has adapted the Dutch ‘Sand Engine’ concept – an example of Building with Nature – for the project. In this scheme 1.5 million cubic metres of sand will be placed along the coast to protect a 5km stretch of the UK’s east coast including the nationally critical Bacton Gas Terminal (operated by Shell and Perenco) together with its neighbouring communities.

URGENT PROJECT
Long-term coastal erosion is depleting the area’s beaches, leaving cliffs and seawalls exposed. Severe storms in 2007 and 2013 caused significant cliff erosion and flooding, underlining the project's urgency.

The project is a public-private venture of Bacton Gas Terminal together with North Norfolk District Council (NNDC), where NNDC is the Operator.

Gökhan Doygun - Commercial Advisor at Shell responsible for collaboration between the Bacton Terminal Operators, Royal HaskoningDHV and other parties - commented: “The Bacton Gas Terminal is an important energy asset for the UK providing about a third of the UK's gas supply. To protect the Terminal and the associated pipelines, we need a solution which will be sustainable and will allow us to continue operating into the future. Due to its green nature, Sandscaping creates a great opportunity for the Bacton Terminal and the neighbouring villages to collaborate.

“I understand the sandscaping solution does more than just protect the Bacton Terminal as it creates real benefits for our neighbouring communities because the sediment will improve the beaches nearby. It is also a sustainable solution as it can be re-nourished and maintained.”

John Lee, NNDC cabinet member for coastal management added: "This is a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity to bolster sea defences at Bacton Gas Terminal and protect the villages of Bacton and Walcott – and this is the only viable way to strengthen our sea defences here. It’s an exciting project which shows the benefit of the public and private sectors working together.”

NATURAL ENERGY
Jaap Flikweert, Flood Resilience Leading Professional at Royal HaskoningDHV added: “In the Sandscaping initiative we are working with British partners to translate the Dutch Sand Engine to the very different context of the UK. It is all about using the natural energy of the sea to distribute the sand, and this can make sandy solutions affordable. It enhances the natural coastline without leaving a permanent mark, and can also be adapted and extended easily if needed in the future. Sandscaping also means design for multiple functions and stakeholders, to generate benefits and funding.”

The volume of sand to be used at Bacton is approximately equal to 200 football pitches covered 1 metre deep in sand, and will come from existing licensed dredging areas.

Public consultation has begun and Royal HaskoningDHV’s work on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is underway. The company will also prepare the business case to secure national Government funding, as well as developing the operations, maintenance and monitoring plan for the scheme with placement due to take place during summer 2018.

The first Sand Engine was introduced in 2011 on the Dutch coast and offers an effective soft coastal management solution making use of natural processes. The method entails depositing a large volume of sand in a location from which it is distributed by coastal processes over a larger part of the coast.

Royal HaskoningDHV was heavily involved in the design of the original Dutch concept, as well as delivering the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). The Bacton project is the first time the concept will be applied outside the Netherlands.

By Jake Frith

From Wikipedia:

Sand engine

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigation Jump to search

Map of the sand engine

The sand engine (also called Sand Motor) is an experiment in the management of dynamic coastline. The first one was run off South Holland in the Netherlands. A sandcastle-shaped peninsula was created by humans; the surface is about 1 km². It is expected that this sand is then moved over the years by the action of waves, wind and currents along the coast. To protect the West of the Netherlands against the sea, the beaches along the coast are artificially replenished every five years, and it is expected that the sandcastle will make replenishment along the Delfland Coast unnecessary for the next 20 years. This method is expected to be more cost effective and also helps nature by reducing the repeated disruption caused by replenishment.^[1]

For the first time in 2011 at the request of the Hoogheemraadschap van Delfland as part of the coastal management and the maintenance of the coastline by the highways and the province of South Holland, a peninsula was created between Ter Heijde and Kijkduin, where natural beaches and dunes are relatively narrow.

In 2017 it was announced that another sand castle would be built in Norfolk, United Kingdom.^[2]

Professor Marcel Stive is considered the inventor of the Sand Castle.^[3] Another such project could provide a solution to the weak coast between Camperduin and Petten, which is called the Hondsbossche seawall. The experience of this first sand castle is interesting for future projects. The construction of the sand engine at Ter Heijde cost 70 million euros and is the first in the world of its kind. Joop Atsma, State Secretary for Infrastructure and Environment, presented the project in November 2011 and his purpose was to convince that the technique of sand engine could be useful on more locations along the Dutch coast.^[4]

The first such project was given the name Delta Dune.^[5] Work began in January 2011. The conditions were favorable and thus the operation was completed in October 2011. A volume of 21 million cubic meters of sand covers an area of 128 hectare.

In 2017 it was announced that another sand castle would be constructed to protect the Bacton Gas Terminal and surrounding area in Norfolk, in the UK.^[2]

^ The Sand Motor Archived 2014-03-19 at the Wayback Machine., Rijkswaterstaat and the province of South Holland
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "Sand Castle to protect British coast - Ecoshape". Ecoshape. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-12. Retrieved 2015-01-12.
^ Atsma wil meer 'zandmotors', Cobouw, 24 November 2011
^ DeltaDuin winnaar prijsvraag Zandmotor Archived 2012-05-10 at the Wayback Machine.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zandmotor.

↧

78 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump. (NY Times)

January 7, 2019, 6:49 am

≫ Next: Will ADA-violating City Manager MAX ROYLE Get PASSPORT LABS, INC. Parking App Approved Tuesday, January 8, 2019?: JUST SAY NO!

≪ Previous: SOLVING BEACH EROSION: Will St. Augustine Beach and St. Johns County Get a "Sand Engine" or "Sand Castle" to Help Stop Erosion?

The most corrupt President ever -- far worse than the administrations of corrupt Republican Presidents Warren Gamaliel Harding, Richard Milhous Nixon, et al -- DONALD JOHN TRUMP is a clear and present danger to our frail planet, attempting to gut environmental protection. Here's the updated New York Times list, based on Harvard University's environmental rollback tracker:

78 Environmental Rules on
the Way Out Under Trump

By NADJA POPOVICH, LIVIA ALBECK-RIPKA and KENDRA PIERRE-LOUIS UPDATED Dec. 28, 2018

Since his first days in office, President Trump has made eliminating federal regulations a priority. His administration, with help from Republicans in Congress, has targeted environmental rules it sees as overly burdensome to the fossil fuel industry, including major Obama-era policies aimed at fighting climate change.

A New York Times analysis, based on research from Harvard Law School, Columbia Law School and other sources, counts nearly 80 environmental rules on the way out under Mr. Trump. Our list represents two types of policy changes: rules that were officially reversed and rollbacks still in progress. Nearly a dozen more rules – summarized at the bottom of this page – were rolled back and then later reinstated, often following legal challenges.

ROLLBACKS COMPLETED

ROLLBACKS IN PROCESS

TOTAL ROLLBACKS

Air pollution and emissions

Drilling and extraction

Infrastructure and planning

Animals

Toxic substances and safety

Water pollution

Other

The process of rolling back regulations has not always been smooth. In some cases, the administration has failed to provide a strong legal argument in favor of proposed changes or agencies have skipped key steps in the rulemaking process, like notifying the public and asking for comment. In several cases, courts have ordered agencies to enforce their own rules.

All told, the Trump administration’s environmental rollbacks could lead to at least 80,000 extra deaths per decade and cause respiratory problems for more than one million people, according to a separate analysis conducted by researchers from Harvard. That number, however, is likely to be “a major underestimate of the global public health impact,” said Francesca Dominici, a professor of biostatistics at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Here are the details for the policies targeted by the administration so far. Are there rollbacks we missed? Email climateteam@nytimes.com or tweet @nytclimate.

Air pollution and emissions

COMPLETED

1. Canceled a requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions. Environmental Protection Agency | Read more

2. Revised and partially repealed an Obama-era rule limiting methane emissions on public lands, including intentional venting and flaring from drilling operations. Interior Department | Read more

3. Loosened a Clinton-era rule designed to limit toxic emissions from major industrial polluters. E.P.A. | Read more

4. Stopped enforcing a 2015 rule that prohibited the use of hydrofluorocarbons, powerful greenhouse gases, in air-conditioners and refrigerators. E.P.A. | Read more

5. Repealed a requirement that state and regional authorities track tailpipe emissions from vehicles traveling on federal highways. Transportation Department | Read more

6. Amended rules that govern how refineries monitor pollution in surrounding communities. E.P.A. | Read more

7. Directed agencies to stop using an Obama-era calculation of the “social cost of carbon” that rulemakers used to estimate the long-term economic benefits of reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Executive Order | Read more

8. Withdrew guidance that federal agencies include greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews. (But several district courts have ruled that emissions must be included in such reviews.) Executive Order; Council on Environmental Quality | Read more

9. Reverted to a weaker 2009 pollution permitting program for new power plants and expansions. E.P.A. | Read more

IN PROCESS

10. Proposed weakening Obama-era fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks. The proposal also challenges California’s right to set its own more stringent standards, which can be followed by other states. E.P.A. and Transportation Department | Read more

11. Announced intent to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement (but the process of withdrawing cannot be completed until 2020). Executive Order | Read more

12. Proposed repeal of the Clean Power Plan, which would have set strict limits on carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants. In August 2018, the E.P.A. drafted a replacement plan, called the Affordable Clean Energy rule, that would let states set their own rules. Executive Order; E.P.A. | Read more

13. Proposed eliminating Obama-era restrictions that in effect required newly built coal power plants to capture carbon dioxide emissions. E.P.A. | Read more

14. Proposed a legal justification for weakening an Obama-era rule that limited mercury emissions from coal power plants. E.P.A. | Read more

15. Proposed revisions to standards for carbon dioxide emissions from new, modified and reconstructed power plants. Executive Order; E.P.A. | Read more

16. Began review of emissions rules for power plant start-ups, shutdowns and malfunctions. In September 2018, E.P.A. officials said they were considering repealing the rule. E.P.A. | Read more

17. Proposed relaxing Obama-era requirements that companies monitor and repair methane leaks at oil and gas facilities. E.P.A. | Read more

18. Proposed changing rules aimed at cutting methane emissions from landfills. E.P.A. | Read more

19. Announced rewrite of an Obama-era rule meant to reduce air pollution in national parks and wilderness areas. E.P.A. | Read more

20. Weakened oversight of some state plans for reducing air pollution in national parks. (In Texas, the E.P.A. rejected an Obama-era plan that would have required the installation of equipment at some coal-burning power plants to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions.) E.P.A. | Read more

21. Proposed repealing leak-repair, maintenance and reporting requirements for large refrigeration and air-conditioning systems containing hydrofluorocarbons. E.P.A. | Read more

Drilling and extraction

COMPLETED

22. Lifted a freeze on new coal leases on public lands. Executive Order; Interior Department | Read more

23. Repealed an Obama-era rule governing royalties for oil, gas and coal leases on federal lands, which replaced a 1980s rule that critics said allowed companies to underpay the federal government. Interior Department | Read more

24. Made significant cuts to the borders of two national monuments in Utah and recommended border and resource management changes to several more. Presidential Proclamation; Interior Department | Read more

25. Revoked an Obama-era executive order designed to preserve ocean, coastal and Great Lakes waters in favor of a policy focused on energy production and economic growth. Executive Order | Read more

26. Rescinded water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands. Interior Department | Read more

27. Scrapped a proposed rule that required mines to prove they could pay to clean up future pollution. E.P.A. | Read more

28. Withdrew a requirement that Gulf oil rig owners prove they could cover the costs of removing rigs once they have stopped producing. Interior Department | Read more

29. Approved construction of the Dakota Access pipelineless than a mile from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. Under the Obama administration, the Army Corps of Engineers had said it would explore alternative routes. Executive Order; Army | Read more

30. Changed how the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission considers the indirect effects of greenhouse gas emissions in environmental reviews of pipelines. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission | Read more

31. Permitted the use of seismic air guns for gas and oil exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. The practice, which can kill marine life and disrupt fisheries, was blocked under the Obama administration. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Read more

IN PROCESS

32. Proposed opening most of America’s coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling. Interior Department | Read more

33. Expedited an environmental review process to clear the way for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Congress; Interior Department | Read more

34. Ordered review of regulations on oil and gas drilling in national parks where mineral rights are privately owned. Executive Order | Read more

35. Proposed changes to regulations for oil well control and blowout prevention systems implemented after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. Interior Department | Read more

36. Recommended shrinking three marine protected areas, or opening them to commercial fishing. Executive Order; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Read more

37. Proposed revisions to regulations on offshore oil and gas exploration by floating vessels in the Arctic that were developed after a 2013 accident. Executive Order; Interior Department | Read more

Infrastructure and planning

COMPLETED

38. Revoked Obama-era flood standards for federal infrastructure projects, like roads and bridges. The standards required the government to account for sea-level rise and other climate change effects. Executive Order | Read more

39. Relaxed the environmental review process for federal infrastructure projects. Executive Order | Read more

40. Revoked a directive for federal agencies to minimize impacts on water, wildlife, land and other natural resources when approving development projects. Executive Order | Read more

41. Revoked a 2016 order promoting “climate resilience” in the northern Bering Sea region in Alaska. Executive Order | Read more

42. Revoked an Obama-era order that had set a goal of cutting the federal government’s greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over 10 years. Executive Order | Read more

43. Reversed an update to the Bureau of Land Management’s public land use planning process. Congress | Read more

44. Withdrew an Obama-era order to consider climate change in managing natural resources in national parks. National Park Service | Read more

45. Restricted most Interior Department environmental studies to one year in length and a maximum of 150 pages, citing the need to reduce paperwork. Interior Department | Read more

46. Withdrew a number of Obama-era Interior Department climate change and conservation policies that the agency said could “burden the development or utilization of domestically produced energy resources.” Interior Department | Read more

47. Eliminated the use of an Obama-era planning system designed to minimize harm from oil and gas activity on sensitive landscapes, such as national parks. Interior Department | Read more

48. Eased the environmental review processes for small wireless infrastructure projects with the goal of expanding 5G wireless networks. Federal Communications Commission | Read more

IN PROCESS

49. Announced plans to speed up and streamline the environmental review process for forest restoration projects. Agriculture Department | Read more

Animals

COMPLETED

50. Overturned a ban on the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on federal lands. Interior Department | Read more

51. Overturned a ban on the hunting of predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges. Congress | Read more

52. Ended an Obama-era rule barring hunters on some Alaska public lands from using bait to lure and kill grizzly bears. National Park Service; Interior Department | Read more

53. Withdrew proposed limits on endangered marine mammals and sea turtles unintentionally caught by fishing nets on the West Coast. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Read more

54. Amended fishing regulations for a number of species to allow for longer seasons and higher catch rates. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | Read more

55. Rolled back an Obama-era policy aimed at protecting migratory birds. Interior Department | Read more

56. Overturned a ban on using parts of migratory birds in handicrafts made by Alaskan Natives. Interior Department | Read more

IN PROCESS

57. Proposed stripping the Endangered Species Act of key provisions. Interior Department | Read more

58. Released a plan to open nine million acres of Western land to oil and gas drilling by weakening habitat protections for the sage grouse, an imperiled bird with an elaborate mating dance. Interior Department | Read more

Toxic substances and safety

COMPLETED

59. Narrowed the scope of a 2016 law mandating safety assessments for potentially toxic chemicals, like dry-cleaning solvents and paint strippers. The E.P.A. will focus on direct exposure and exclude air, water and ground contamination. E.P.A. | Read more

60. Reversed an Obama-era rule that required braking system upgrades for “high hazard” trains hauling flammable liquids, like oil and ethanol. Transportation Department | Read more

61. Removed copper filter cake, an electronics manufacturing byproduct comprised of heavy metals, from the “hazardous waste” list. E.P.A. | Read more

IN PROCESS

62. Rejected a proposed ban on chlorpyrifos, a potentially neurotoxic pesticide. In August 2018, a federal court ordered the E.P.A. to ban the pesticide, but the agency appealed the ruling. E.P.A. | Read more

63. Proposed eliminating a program designed to limit exposure to lead , which is known to damage brain and nervous system development. E.P.A. | Read more

64. Announced a review of an Obama-era rule lowering coal dust limits in mines. The head of the Mine Safety and Health Administration said there were no immediate plans to change the dust limit, but the review is continuing. Labor Department | Read more

Water pollution

COMPLETED

65. Revoked a rule that prevented coal companies from dumping mining debris into local streams. Congress | Read more

66. Withdrew a proposed rule reducing pollutants, including air pollution, at sewage treatment plants. E.P.A. | Read more

67. Revoked federal rules regulating coal ash waste from power plants and granted oversight to the states. E.P.A. | Read more

68. Withdrew a proposed rule requiring groundwater protections for certain uranium mines. E.P.A. | Read more

IN PROCESS

69. Proposed rolling back protections for certain tributaries and wetlands that the Obama administration wanted covered by the Clean Water Act. E.P.A.; Army | Read more

70. Delayed by two years an E.P.A. rule regulating limits on toxic discharge, which can include mercury, from power plants into public waterways. E.P.A. | Read more

Other

COMPLETED

71. Prohibited funding environmental and community development projects through corporate settlements of federal lawsuits. Justice Department | Read more

72. Announced intent to stop payments to the Green Climate Fund, a United Nations program to help poorer countries reduce carbon emissions. Executive Order | Read more

73. Reversed restrictions on the sale of plastic water bottles in national parks desgined to cut down on litter, despite a Park Service report that the effort worked. Interior Department | Read more

IN PROCESS

74. Proposed limiting the studies used by the E.P.A. for rulemaking to only those that make data publicly available. (The move was widely criticized by scientists, who said it would effectively block the agency from considering landmark research that relies on confidential health data.) E.P.A. | Read more

75. Proposed changes to the way cost-benefit analyses are conducted under the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act and other environmental statutes. E.P.A. | Read more

76. Delayed compliance dates for federal building efficiency standards until Sept. 30, 2017. No updates have been published, and the status of the rule remains unclear. Energy Department | Read more

77. Proposed withdrawing efficiency standards for residential furnaces and commercial water heatersdesigned to reduce energy use. Energy Department | Read more

78. Withdrew a proposed rule that would inform car owners about fuel-efficient replacement tires. The Transportation Department is scheduled to republish a proposal in June 2019. Transportation Department | Read more

11 rules were reinstated following
lawsuits and other challenges

1. Reinstated a rule aimed at improving safety at facilities that use hazardous chemicals following a federal court order. E.P.A. | Read more

2. Approved the Keystone XL pipeline rejected by President Barack Obama, but a federal judge blocked the project from going forward, saying the Trump administration did not present a “reasoned explanation” for the approval. Executive Order; State Department | Read more

3. Reversed course on repealing emissions standards for “glider” trucks — vehicles retrofitted with older, often dirtier engines — after Andrew Wheeler took over as head of the E.P.A. E.P.A. | Read more

4. Delayed a compliance deadline for new national ozone pollution standards by one year, but later reversed course. E.P.A. | Read more

5. Suspended an effort to lift restrictions on mining in Bristol Bay, Alaska. E.P.A. | Read more

6. Announced intent to regulate paint removers containing methylene chloride after pressure from families who had lost relatives to poisoning. The E.P.A. had indicated it would not finalize regulatory action on the substance. (But so far it has not moved to ban its commercial use.) E.P.A. | Read more

7. Delayed implementation of a rule regulating the certification and training of pesticide applicators, but a judge ruled that the E.P.A. had done so illegally and declared the rule in effect. E.P.A. | Read more

8. Initially delayed publishing efficiency standards for household appliances, but later published them after multiple states and environmental groups sued. Energy Department | Read more

9. Reissued a rule limiting the discharge of mercury by dental offices into municipal sewers after a lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an advocacy group. E.P.A. | Read more

10. Re-posted a proposed rule limiting greenhouse gas emissions from aircraft, after initially changing its status to “inactive” on the E.P.A. website. E.P.A. | Read more

11. Removed the Yellowstone grizzly bear from the Endangered Species List, but the protections were later reinstated by a federal judge. Interior Department | Read more

↧

Will ADA-violating City Manager MAX ROYLE Get PASSPORT LABS, INC. Parking App Approved Tuesday, January 8, 2019?: JUST SAY NO!

January 7, 2019, 10:13 pm

≫ Next: DOES PASSPORT LABS, INC. "CONFIDENTIAL" CONTRACT VIOLATE FLORIDA OPEN RECORDS LAW?

≪ Previous: 78 Environmental Rules on the Way Out Under Trump. (NY Times)

Paid Parking Plan Illegal?: ADA is litigation likely to challenge St. Augustine Beach's PASSPORT LABS, INC. smartphone parking app scheme. NONE of the 300 paid parking spaces is set aside for free use of disabled drivers. Federal law requires some twelve spaces suitable for wheelchair-equipped vans.

Flummoxed St. Augustine Beach City Manager BRUCE MAX ROYLE was repeatedly criticized at a meeting that was conveniently not televised due to "technical difficulties" on both cable television and live-streamed video. ROYLE has NO plan for the City of St. Augustine Beach to provide some twelve (12) mandatory Americans with Disability Act (ADA) parking spaces as part of its smartphone parking app scheme for 300 parking spaces.

City faces likely loss in a federal court disability rights lawsuit: Expect another lawsuit by disability rights activist Merrill Paul Roland, a prevailing party in successful ADA litigation against the other itty-bitty city, St. Augustine.

Mr. Roland's torpedoed the app with a presentation from U.S. Department of Justice website about the mandatory legal duty to construct twelve solid van-sized accessible parking spaces for disabled people as a result of the planned 300 paid spaces.

Legal questions raised by Mr. Roland City Commission meeting testimony could be disabling to BRUCE MAX ROYLE's hare-brained PASSPORT parking app scheme.

Thanks to activist Merrill Paul Roland and Thomas F. Reynolds, Jr. for sinking the parking proposal.

I raised ADA several months ago and got ignored. But armed with USDOJ rules, Merrill Paul Roland laid down the law to unsophisticated St. Augustine Beach City Manager ROYLE.

No response on federal lawsuit threat from City Manger BRUCE MAX ROYLE. Nope.

No response from St. Augustine Beach City Attorney James Patrick Wilson, a/k/a "Minimum Jim."

The PASSPORT LABS, INC. contract of adhesion will be discussed at the special January 8, 2019 (Tuesday) meeting, which begins at 5 PM and also includes Comprehensive Plan discussion. Rules now allow only two minutes of public comment on agenda items, reduced from three because three Commissioners voted to discourage public participation and disclosures of waste, fraud, abuse. misfeasance, malfeasance, nonfeasance, flummery, dupery and nincompoopery by the Tinpot Napoleon who runs St. Augustine Beach.

The PASSPORT LABS, INC. parking app scheme is the idea re-elected Mayor Undine Celeste Pawlowski George, a real estate lawyer, who says she got the idea from "a colleague" whom she still refuses to identify.

The PASSPORT LABS., INC. parking app scheme was sold by saleswoman Kelsey Owens, who gets to do another snow job at the January 8, 2019 meeting.

After Commissioner Maggie Kostka asked for a business plan, the City of St. Augustine Beach provided a timeline or chronology. That shows Royle's contempt for both democracy and fiduciary duty.

BRUCE MAX ROYLE, St. Augustine Beach City "Manager," has done it again. The looney little louche lackadaisical lousy City Manager did not investigate, vet or prepare any business plan.

He routinely violates ADA during events, ordering ADA spaces be blocked for toilets or tents.

In pursuit of the PASSPORT LABS,INC. contract of adhesion,ROYLE and his cronies visited Gainesville. They did not plan to comply with ADA. They did not survey residents. They arrogantly made up a $400,000 claim of revenue in this year's budget. When that revenue does not appear, who will tell the people?

How about you? Come speak at the Tuesday January 7, 2019 City Commission meeting. It starts at 5 PM with discussion on the Comprehensive Plan -- no telling when they'll finally get around to talking about this technological turkey of a privacy-invading smartphone parking app.

Will PASSPORT send a lawyer to explain its position on its demand for 35 cents "convenience fee" every time someone parks in St. Augustine Beach? That's some "convenience fee."

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: khristian.gutierrez
Cc: kelsey ; Scott.branam ; jason.Idilbi
Sent: Mon, Jan 7, 2019 10:22 am
Subject: Questions re: draft PASSPORT LABS, INC. contract of adhesion with City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida

Dear Mr. Gutierrez:
Please call me about the enclosed proposed PASSPORT LABS, INC. contract of adhesion with the City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida for a smartphone parking app privatization scheme, charging people a 35 cent so-called "convenience fee" whenever they park.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

904-377-4998

www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

www.edslavin.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Max Royle
To: Ed Slavin
Cc: Beverly Raddatz
Sent: Mon, Jan 7, 2019 9:15 am
Subject: RE: Request Nos. 2019-15 & 2018-469: Draft Passport contract for cellular telephone parking payment application

Mr. Slavin,

Your request for public records has been forwarded to the City Clerk for a response.

Max

From: Ed Slavin <easlavin@aol.com>
Sent: Monday, January 7, 2019 8:56 AM
Subject: Request Nos. 2019-15 & 2018-469: Draft Passport contract for cellular telephone parking payment application

Dear Mr. Royle, et al:

Please send me any City of St. Augustine Beach City Manager:

consultation with City Attorney, SABPD, State Attorney General or State's Attorney on enclosed proposed Passport Labs, Inc. contract of adhesion for a lucrative cellular telephone application ("app")
communications with legal counsel for Passport on proposed contract of adhesion
edits, negotiations or suggested modifications to the proposed Passport contract of adhesion allowing it to charge parkers -- people living, visiting or working in St. Augustine Beach -- a "convenience fee" of 35 cents every time they park, on top of hourly rates
evaluation of proposed edits on Passport's proposed contract of adhesion
spreadsheet of any proposed or adopted contract edits to Passport's proposed contract of adhesion
cover memo or transmission e-mail sending draft Passport proposed contract to Commissioners, legal experts or others.
revisions, updates or revised drafts since the enclosed draft contract sent in response to request No. 2018-569.
evaluation of the fairness of the proposed contract to property owners, visitors, workers, consumers and residents under state and federal law
evaluation of the applicability of the Bert J. Harriss, Jr. Private Property Protection Act
evaluation of equal protection and due process issues in not charging for parking by the Dance Studio, Jack's Barbecue and other businesses.
calculation of Passports' past and expected profits from its contracts of adhesion with cities
research and background investigation on Passport's:

data accuracy and security,
market share,
profitability,
anticompetitive and monopolistic practices,
nature, structure and performance,
profits,
ownership,
ethics,
compliance history,
surveillance capabilities,
potential for privacy violations and
overall efficacy.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

904-377-4998

www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

www.edslavin.com

↧

DOES PASSPORT LABS, INC. "CONFIDENTIAL" CONTRACT VIOLATE FLORIDA OPEN RECORDS LAW?

January 8, 2019, 6:03 am

≫ Next: Fraudfeasing client-cheating ex-prosecutor CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC Sentenced to Prison

≪ Previous: Will ADA-violating City Manager MAX ROYLE Get PASSPORT LABS, INC. Parking App Approved Tuesday, January 8, 2019?: JUST SAY NO!

Yes, it does. Controversial longtime St. Augustine Beach City Manager BRUCE MAX ROYLE is violating Florida Open Records laws again.

Florida Statute 119.0701 requires government records provision in every contract, left out of the draft contract for a smartphone parking app for the itty-bit City on St. Augustine Beach:

ROYLE's draft PASSPORT LABS, INC. violates Florida Statute 119.0701 by failing to require that the contractor records are public records. It does just the reverse, containing an illegally confidentiality clause contemplating evidence destruction. What do you expect from a pig but a grunt? This company is controlled by BAIN CAPITAL, ruthless former employer of Mitt Romney.

The PASSPORT LABS, INC. contract must be stopped -- it was just featured on the Jacksonville NPR affiliate, WJCT, which is finally covering local news here (perhaps as a result of my December 2018 FCC complaint against WJCT, whose FCC license will either be renewed or rejected in 2019).

Here's my e-mail to ROYLE, the City Attorney, City Commissioners and PASSPORT:

-----Original Message-----
From: Ed Slavin
To: khristian.gutierrez ; comugeorge ; commengland ; commkostka ; comrobrien ; comdsamora ; mroyle ; ajohns ; branamsr ; scott.branam
Cc: kelsey ; jason.Idilbi ; tomcushman ; sheplaw ; sheldon.gardner ; georgio ; laureldean1 ; rvbailey ; pat.gleason ; larizzar ; hardwickra ; sabcivic ; megan.wall ; waltbog
Sent: Tue, Jan 8, 2019 4:29 am
Subject: PASSPORT LABS, INC. illegal, unconscionable contract of adhesion with City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida?

Dear Messrs. Gutierrez, Branam, Royle, Johns and Wilson, Mayor George, Vice Mayor England, Commissioners Kostka, O'Brien and Samora of the City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida:

Is the enclosed proposed "Confidential" PASSPORT LABS, INC. "contract of adhesion" with City of St. Augustine Beach, Florida an illegal, unenforceable contract violation of public policy, which:

1. Fails to protect citizens' rights to access our government contractor public records, violating F.S. 119.0701 and violating Article I, Section 24 of our Florida Constitution, adopted by vote of 83% of Florida voters (3.8 million people) in 1992? Yes.
2. Omits mandatory Florida statutory contract language on public records, violating F.S. 119.0701? Yes.
3. Fails to protect disabled persons' human rights to some twelve (12) free Americans with Disabilities Act wheelchair van accessible parking spaces out of the 300 proposed paid-for spaces? Yes.

4. Fails to provide adequate procedural safeguards to prevent overcharges, privacy violations, consumer fraud and elder financial abuse in violation of Florida and federal law? Yes.

No model of government contract legal draftsmanship, this deeply flawed vendor-drafted "contract of adhesion" appears to be unenforceable and unconscionable, as it appears that it is:

unadorned by any nondiscrimination or ADA/504 provisions,

not Florida-specific,

not drafted by any Florida lawyer,

not drafted by the City Attorney,

not a true bargained-for exchange,

a standard-form, cookie-cutter, take-it-or-leave it, PASSPORT cramdown contract,

written in opaque language, disproportionately benefiting the vendor,

totally one-sided,

lacking in any realistic options for parking customers who don't choose to use a smartphone app,

lacking disclosures about the profits to be made by PASSPORT, Bain Capital's favorite monopolist in this new industry,

excessively deferential in giving unbridled discretion to PASSPORT to draft its own contract and to make decisions and make extra money,

misleadingly labelled "CONFIDENTIAL," in violation of F.S.119.0701,

drafted to destroy or conceal government contractor records that are required to be accessible to the public under F.S. 119.0701. and

intended to conceal details of this PASSPORT LABS, Inc. scheme from public view. See Section 19 (Confidentiality), at pp. 9-10, stating:

19. Confidentiality

A. Provider and Passport agree to treat this Agreement and all information furnished, or to be

furnished, by or on behalf of the other party and information analyses, summaries and other work product

derived from such information (collectively, the “Confidential Information”) in accordance with the

provisions of this section and to take, or abstain from taking, all actions set forth herein. Each party, as a

receiving party, will do the following things with regard to the Confidential Information of the other party:

i. Prevent the disclosure of the Confidential Information by the receiving party and each of the

receiving party’s employees, agents, and/or professionals to any third party other than as

permitted under this Agreement;

ii. Use, and permit the use of, the Confidential Information only for the purposes of providing, or

enjoying the benefit of, the goods, services, and/or software provided for in this Agreement

(the “Purpose”);

iii. Disclose the Confidential Information only to such of the receiving party’s employees, agents,

and professionals as have a bona fide need to possess or know the Confidential Information in

the course of accomplishing, or advising the disclosing party with regard to, the Purpose;

iv. Cause each employee, agent, or professional to whom the receiving party discloses the

Confidential Information to be bound by an obligation of confidentiality that is at least as

rigorous as the obligations contained in this Agreement; and

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

10

v. Return or destroy all written or other tangible copies of Confidential Information in the

receiving party’s possession or direct or indirect control, including all extracts and copies

thereof, within a reasonable time after, and in accordance with, the disclosing party’s request.

B. Nothing in this Agreement will prevent the receiving party from disclosing or using Confidential

Information to the extent that:

i. It is or becomes readily ascertainable by proper means by the public without any breach of a

confidentiality obligation of the receiving party;

ii. It is received from a third party that is not under an obligation of confidentiality of which the

receiving party knew or had reason to know;

iii. It was independently developed by the receiving party without use of the Confidential

Information; or

iv. It is required by law to be disclosed, provided that the receiving party provides to the disclosing

party as much notice as is practicable under the circumstances of such requirement prior to

disclosure and provides to the disclosing party, at the disclosing party’s expense, such

reasonable assistance as the disclosing party requests in seeking confidential treatment,

protective orders, nondisclosure, and/or similar measures.

For the avoidance of doubt, none of the requirements of this Section shall prohibit Provider from disclosing

Confidential Information to the extent that such information is required to be disclosed pursuant to any

open records law, open meetings law, or any other local public disclosure law applicable to Provider.

PASSPORT is seeking to pocket 35 cents for a "convenience fee" every time someone parks in 300 spaces in St. Augustine Beach, which has no City-owned paid parking now.

The City of St. Augustine Beach's paid parking scheme has no business plan, only a timeline. The City Manager's breach of fiduciary duty and harebrained scheme invites litigation and invites profiteering.

The City of St. Augustine Beach and PASSPORT are slow-dancing together, insouciant to the public interest.

This abuse of Florida residents' and visitors' rights is indefensible, and must be ended at once.

Please cease and desist from your misguided efforts to approve this unconscionable contract of adhesion in violation of public policy. See Restatement of Contracts, 2d, Sec. 178 (Contract Violations of Public Policy).

Please delete PASSPORT's unconscionable contract from the Tuesday, January 8, 2019 St. Augustine Beach City Commission meeting agenda.

Thank you.

With kindest regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

Ed Slavin

904-377-4998

www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com

www.edslavin.com

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

SOFTWARE LICENSE AND SERVICE AGREEMENT

This Software License and Service Agreement (the “Agreement”) is entered into as of the Effective Date

set forth below by and between Passport Labs, Inc. (“Passport”) and the party named below (“Provider”).

This Agreement includes and incorporates the terms and conditions found in this document, the Terms and

Conditions found in Exhibit A, and the terms and conditions found in all other Exhibits hereto, which

represent the full and complete understanding and agreement of Passport and Provider with respect to the

subject matter hereof. In exchange for the mutual covenants herein and other good and valuable

consideration, the Parties agree and intend to be bound as follows:

I. GENERAL TERMS

Provider Legal Name: City of St. Augustine Beach, FL Contact: Anthony Johns

Email: ajohns@cityofsab.org Phone: (904) 471-2122

Provider Contact Address

2200 A1A South

St. Augustine Beach, FL 32080

Provider Billing Contact Address

2200 A1A South

St. Augustine Beach, FL 32080

Effective Date:

Services:

Passport will provide services (the “Services”) and license all software, including all web and mobile

applications and related documentation, (the “Software”) necessary for Provider to operate (1) a

mobile payment for parking program (“MPP”) which allows all parking customers in any parking

facilities owned or managed by Provider the ability to pay for parking using a smartphone application

or mobile web application; and (2) a citation management platform (“CMP”) which allows Provider’s

parking enforcement officers in any or all parking facilities owned or managed by Provider the ability

to issue parking citations that may be paid online through Passport’s payment portal.

Governing State Law: Florida

Term:

This Agreement shall commence on the Effective Date and continue until it is terminated (the

“Term”). Either Party may terminate this Agreement by providing sixty (60) days’ written notice to

the non-terminating Party.

(continued on next page)

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

II. MOBILE PAYMENT FOR PARKING TERMS

Equipment Provided by Passport: Initial Signs

One (1) sign per block

face for on-street

parking; one (1) sign

per fifty (50) spaces

for off-street parking

Initial Decals

One (1) decal

per hardware

unit

Installation:

Provider will be solely responsible for installing all signs and decals in the Premises. This obligation

includes the responsibility to provide all hardware necessary to affix and display signs and decals,

including without limitation, all hooks, poles, posts, brackets, screws, bolts, and nuts.

Ancillary Fees:

a) Zone setup fees of three dollars ($3.00) per space - WAIVED

b) Initial Signs and Stickers – WAIVED

(unit prices of twenty dollars ($20.00) per sign and three dollars ($3.00) per decal will apply

to additional or replacement orders)

c) Provider will pay a ten dollar ($10.00) administrative fee in addition to sign and shipping

costs per sign for any additional or replacement signs purchased through Passport

d) Provider will pay a one dollar ($1.00) administrative fee in addition to decal and shipping

costs per decal for any additional or replacement decals purchased through Passport

e) Passport will provide a design file to allow Provider to print replacement signs and decals

f) Provider will reimburse Passport for any and all reasonable travel, lodging, and food expenses

incurred by Passport employees while traveling at Provider’s request.

(continued on next page)

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

III. CITATION MANAGEMENT PLATFORM TERMS

Equipment:

a) Provider must purchase a sufficient number of Android-based handheld devices for each parking

enforcement officer to have access to one device while conducting parking enforcement activities

b) Passport will provide custom setup for Android devices, including installing and configuring the

Software and pairing the device with a Bluetooth-enabled printer for an additional fee of $300.00

c) Provider must maintain at its sole cost one wireless data plan for each Android device

d) Provider must possess at least one Bluetooth-enabled printer per Android device described above

e) If Provider chooses to purchase additional Bluetooth-enabled printers through Passport, the price

for a Zebra zq320 (or substantial equivalent) is $600.00 with charger

f) In addition to the unit costs per Bluetooth-enabled printer above, Provider will be responsible for

paying all shipping costs and printer paper costs

g) If Provider orders custom printer paper through Passport, Provider will be responsible for paying

the costs of creating, printing, and shipping such custom paper plus a 12% service fee to Passport.

Passport is unable to provide estimated costs until specific details of Provider’s order have been

confirmed due to the variable costs of its 3rd party.

Collections Support:

a) Passport will provide an online payment portal through which parking violators may pay

outstanding parking citations

b) After thirty (30) days parking citations issued by Provider will escalate in price and Passport will

automatically generate and send a letter to each parking citation owner for which Passport has

necessary state licensure authorization to perform a driver record lookup informing such parking

violator that they have an outstanding parking citation and that the citation amount has increased

(continued on next page)

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

IV. FEES

Per Transaction MPP Service and License Fee* $0.35

Maximum Convenience Fee Passed through to Parking Customers $0.35

CMP Service and License Fee Per Ticket Paid $3.00

Additional CMP Service and License Fee Per Ticket Paid After Citation

Amount Escalation

35%

Cost Per Notification Letter Sent by Passport $1.50

Merchant Processing Costs:

Provider will be responsible for paying all merchant processing costs, including, without limitation,

settlement fees, payment gateway fees, chargeback fees, and interchange reimbursement fees.

Merchant of Record for Transactions:

X Passport Provider

Passport Merchant Processing Rate Per Transaction: 2.9% + $0.30

Payment Gateway Provider: X Passport Other

Passport Gateway Fee Per Transaction: $0.05

*An MPP “transaction” is a single session lasting less than twenty-four (24) hours in duration.

Passport Labs, Inc: Provider:

By: __________________________ By: __________________________

Name: __________________________ Name: __________________________

Title: __________________________ Title: __________________________

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

Exhibit A

Terms and Conditions

1. Services

Passport shall perform the services in a competent, professional, and workmanlike manner consistent with

industry practices. Passport will maintain all permits, certificates and licenses required by applicable law

and Passport’s employees performing the services will be fully qualified, licensed as required, and skilled

to perform the services. Passport warrants that it has the power to enter into and perform this Agreement

and that it will at all times during the term of this Agreement be, duly organized, validly existing and in

good standing under the laws of the state of Delaware.

2. Compliance with Laws and Codes

In providing the services under this Agreement, Passport will comply at its sole cost and expense with all

applicable federal, state, county, and municipal laws, statutes, rules, regulations and ordinances. If

requested by Provider while performing services at Provider’s place of business, Passport will comply with

Provider’s dress and conduct codes and security protocols.

3. PCI Certification

For the duration of the term of this Agreement, Passport will maintain Payment Card Industry – Data

Security Standard certification.

4. Product Updates

Any system-wide improvements or modifications made by Passport to the Software will, when available,

be provided to Provider at no charge to Provider and will automatically be subject to the terms of this

Agreement.

Provider may request new features or functionality to be built into the system, and, to the extent that

Passport plans to incorporate such requested new features or functionality into the Software, Passport will

develop such features and functionality at no cost to the Provider pursuant to Passport’s development

timeline. If the Provider desires to expedite such development, Passport may, in its sole discretion, charge

Provider an expedite fee of two hundred dollars ($200.00) per development hour necessary to develop the

requested features or functionality, provided, however, that Passport shall first notify Provider and receive

written approval from Provider to proceed. If the Provider’s requested features or functionality are created

for the Provider’s use and Passport does not plan to incorporate such requested features into the Software,

Passport may, in its sole discretion, charge Provider a custom development fee of two hundred and fifty

dollars ($250.00) per hour for the development of such features or functionality, provided, however, that

Passport shall first notify Provider and receive written approval from Provider to proceed.

In addition to or in lieu of the fees set forth in this section, the parties may establish a monthly software

license or maintenance fee that will be mutually agreed between the parties in a separate written addendum

to this Agreement.

5. Changes

Any changes to the scope of services provided under this Agreement shall be set forth in a written change

order or amendment signed by both parties setting forth the scope of the change(s) and any applicable fees.

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

6. Additional Passport Services

Passport provides all of the following software platforms as part of its overall technology portfolio: mobile

payments for parking, citation management, digital permits, and mobile payments for transit. Provider may

request the addition of any of these platforms to the extent not provided by Passport to Provider as of the

Effective Date, and any additional platforms developed by Passport from and after the Effective Date, which

shall be memorialized in an addendum to this Agreement including the fees applicable to such platform(s)

and any additional applicable service or legal terms.

7. Scheduled Maintenance

If Passport plans to perform any scheduled maintenance during business hours, Passport will provide notice

to Provider at least twenty-four (24) hours in advance of the commencement of such scheduled

maintenance. For the purpose of this section, “business hours” means Monday through Friday between 9

am 5 pm EDT. In the event that Passport determines that unscheduled maintenance is necessary, Passport

will give Provider as much advance notice as is reasonably practicable, unless such unscheduled

maintenance is necessitated by emergency circumstances for which it would be unfeasible or impossible to

notify Provider in advance.

8. System Uptime; Billing Credits

Passport will provide the Software with uptime of at least ninety-nine percent (99.0%) calculated over a

rolling six-month period (“Uptime Guarantee”). For any month during which system uptime drops below

the Uptime Guarantee, Passport will provide a billing credit in an amount equal to the percentage difference

between a) the lowest uptime reached at any point during the month (calculated on a rolling six month

period) and b) the Uptime Guarantee, multiplied by the total fees payable to Passport for such month. For

example, if during a given month the software uptime falls to ninety-five percent (95.0%) and if during that

month the fees payable to Passport were one hundred dollars ($100.00), Passport will issue a billing credit

of four dollars ($4.00). For the purposes of this agreement, uptime is defined as any period of time during

which end users of the Software can use the Software.

9. Service Levels

Subject to the uptime guarantee set forth in Section 8, Passport’s sole and exclusive obligation in the event

of an error or interruption of the Software is to use its best efforts to restore or repair the Software as quickly

as practicable.

10. Technical Support

A. Passport will provide telephone and email support to Provider’s staff

from Monday to Friday between the hours of 8:00 a.m to 7:00 p.m. EST to address technical and operating

setting issues. Passport will provide "after-hours emergency telephone support" available 24/7.

 Monday-Friday 8AM - 7PM EST

o (US) 980-939-0990

o Help@passportinc.com

 After-Hours Emergency Support

o 866.815.3043

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

B. Provider will provide initial support, including inquires via telephone and email, for end-users

("parkers"). If the Provider is unable to address the parkers technical questions, Provider may escalate endusers

to Passport’s End-User Support Team for technical issues from Monday to Saturday between the

hours of 8:00 a.m to 9:00 p.m. EST at (US) 704-817-2500 or Support@passportinc.com. Provider may not

display Passport’s phone number (or other direct contact information for Passport) on any marketing or

signage visible by parkers.

11. Data Rights

This Section shall govern the rights of Passport and Provider, as the case may be, with respect to the data

that is subject to this Agreement. Passport will, by provisions in its Privacy Policy or otherwise, procure

from such end users all such lawful consents and rights necessary to grant to Provider the rights in such

data as stated in this Section. Passport’s Privacy Policy, as it may be amended from time to time in

Passport’s sole discretion, can be viewed at https://www.passportinc.com/privacy-policy.

A. Operational data is data specific to the Provider’s operation that is provided by Provider to Passport

to be used in the providing of services. Operational data is specific to the Provider’s operation, which is

not available to Passport publicly or by other means. Operational data may include, but is not limited to,

zone information, rate information, operational schedules, business metrics, relevant details of partner

agreements. In each case, Operational data may refer to past, present, or future states of such items.

Operational data is the sole and exclusive property of the Provider. The Provider grants Passport a

perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-assignable, and non-transferrable license to

Operational data, provided that, Passport may assign or transfer such license to a successor in connection

with the transfer or sale of all or substantially all of its assets or business related to this agreement, or in the

event of its merger, consolidation, change in control or similar transaction.

B. Payment Card Industry-Data Security Standard Information (“PCI-DSS

Information”) consists of the following items, each as defined by the then-current Payment Card Industry

Data Security Standards (“PCI-DSS”): Account Data; Cardholder Data; Primary Account Number; and

Sensitive Authentication Data.

Passport acquires a license or sublicense to the PCI-DSS Information from end users who share such data

with Passport in connection with their use of the Software. Passport must secure such data in accordance

with PCI-DSS. As such, Passport may not grant Provider derivative rights to such PCI-DSS Information

and Passport shall not be required to disclose such PCI-DSS Information to Provider.

C. Personal identifiable information (“PII”) is any representation of information that permits the

identity of an individual to whom the information applies to be reasonably determined or inferred by either

direct or indirect means. Name, address, social security number or other identifying number or code,

telephone number, or email address directly identify individuals. Certain data elements—including gender,

race, birth date, geographic indicator (such as zip code or postal code), and other descriptors—can be used

in conjunction or with other data elements to indirectly identify individuals. Information permitting the

physical or online contacting of a specific individual (e.g., IP address) is also personally identifiable

information. End users of Passport’s Software own PII and license it to Passport pursuant to Passport’s

sublicense PII to the Provider under certain conditions (including but not limited to the Provider’s

compliance with information security controls and applicable regulations) that shall be memorialized

separately if and when applicable.

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

D. Activity data is any data generated in the providing of services under this agreement by Passport to

Provider and by end users’ interactions with the services or with Passport directly that is not otherwise PCIDSS

information or PII as defined above. Activity data may include, but is not limited to, user interaction

data, geolocation data, opt-in/opt-out status (including compliance logs), purchase and session data,

application diagnostic data, service performance data, and support data. Data that is derived from Activity

data is also Activity data.

Activity data is the sole and exclusive property of Passport. Passport grants the Provider an irrevocable,

royalty-free, non-exclusive, non-assignable, and non-transferrable license to Activity data for the duration

of the term of this Agreement and only to the extent and in the format that Passport chooses in its sole

discretion to expose such data through its administrative portal or as otherwise agreed upon with the

Provider and only for the Provider’s internal use in connection with the services provided under this

agreement.

12. Privacy Policy; Terms of Use

End users’ use of the Services shall at all times be governed by (a) Passport’s Privacy Policy, as it may be

amended from time to time in Passport’s sole discretion, which can be viewed at

https://passportinc.com/privacy-policy/, and (b) Passport’s Terms and Conditions, as they may be amended

from time to time in Passport’s sole discretion, which can be viewed at https://passportinc.com/terms-andconditions/.

13. Intellectual Property

A. Passport grants Provider a revocable, non-exclusive, non-assignable, non-transferrable, and nonsubleaseable

right and license to use and access the Software only for its internal business purposes for the

duration of the Term. All intellectual property rights including, without limitation, trade names, source

code, trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets, not explicitly granted to Provider in this agreement

are reserved to Passport.

B. Provider will not, directly, indirectly, alone, or with another party, (I) copy, disassemble, reverse

engineer, or decompile the software or any subpart thereof; (ii) modify, create derivative works based upon,

or translate the software or source code; (iii) transfer or otherwise grant any rights in the software or source

code in any form to any other party; (iv) attempt to do any of the foregoing or cause or permit any third

party to do or attempt to do any of the foregoing, except as expressly permitted hereunder.

14. Publicity; Use of Names and Marks

Subject to the provisions of Section 19 (Confidentiality) below, the parties will have the right to publicly

disclose that Passport is Provider’s provider of the Software as set forth herein by means of, by way of

illustration and not limitation, news releases, public announcements, or other forms of publicity.

Passport may use the name or marks of Provider, or reference the fact that Provider is a client of Passport,

for business development purposes, as part of a portfolio or work, or in an illustrative list of clients.

15. Payment Gateway

Provider must supply a payment gateway for the payment of all fees by end users. Passport can provide

payment gateway services and Exhibit B contains a list of other payment gateways supported by Passport.

For any unsupported payment gateway selected by Provider, Passport will charge a two hundred and fifty

dollar ($250.00) per development hour necessary to perform necessary integrations. Provider will bear all

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

costs associated with payment gateway services, including all per transaction costs. Provider may elect to

use Passport’s payment gateway at any time (which shall be reflected in a written amendment to this

Agreement) at the rate of $0.05 per transaction.

16. Payment Terms

If Passport is the Merchant of Record (“MOR”), Passport will remit the funds to Provider from the

preceding month within fifteen (15) days of the conclusion of the month after netting out Passport’s fees

and merchant processing fees.

If Provider is the MOR, Passport will send monthly invoices to Provider for all fees payable to Passport

that accrued during the preceding month. If Provider fails to remit payment according to such invoices

within thirty (30) days after the date on the invoice, Passport will have the right to suspend Provider’s

access to the software and/or assess interest at the rate of 18% per annum on the delinquent balance, or the

maximum rate permitted by state law, if lower, until such delinquent balance is paid.

17. Refunds

Passport agrees to forgo or return, as applicable, its per transaction fees for any refund granted by Provider.

Provider will be responsible for reimbursing Passport for all merchant processing fees, including without

limitation payment gateway fees, settlement fees, and interchange reimbursement fees, if any, incurred by

Passport for all transactions, including refunded transactions.

18. Capacity

Provider represents and warrants that it has obtained or will obtain all applicable governmental approvals,

authorizations, or licenses necessary to enter into this Agreement. Provider further represents and warrants

its signatory is duly authorized to bind Provider to the terms herein.

19. Confidentiality

A. Provider and Passport agree to treat this Agreement and all information furnished, or to be

furnished, by or on behalf of the other party and information analyses, summaries and other work product

derived from such information (collectively, the “Confidential Information”) in accordance with the

provisions of this section and to take, or abstain from taking, all actions set forth herein. Each party, as a

receiving party, will do the following things with regard to the Confidential Information of the other party:

i. Prevent the disclosure of the Confidential Information by the receiving party and each of the

receiving party’s employees, agents, and/or professionals to any third party other than as

permitted under this Agreement;

ii. Use, and permit the use of, the Confidential Information only for the purposes of providing, or

enjoying the benefit of, the goods, services, and/or software provided for in this Agreement

(the “Purpose”);

iii. Disclose the Confidential Information only to such of the receiving party’s employees, agents,

and professionals as have a bona fide need to possess or know the Confidential Information in

the course of accomplishing, or advising the disclosing party with regard to, the Purpose;

iv. Cause each employee, agent, or professional to whom the receiving party discloses the

Confidential Information to be bound by an obligation of confidentiality that is at least as

rigorous as the obligations contained in this Agreement; and

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

v. Return or destroy all written or other tangible copies of Confidential Information in the

receiving party’s possession or direct or indirect control, including all extracts and copies

thereof, within a reasonable time after, and in accordance with, the disclosing party’s request.

B. Nothing in this Agreement will prevent the receiving party from disclosing or using Confidential

Information to the extent that:

i. It is or becomes readily ascertainable by proper means by the public without any breach of a

confidentiality obligation of the receiving party;

ii. It is received from a third party that is not under an obligation of confidentiality of which the

receiving party knew or had reason to know;

iii. It was independently developed by the receiving party without use of the Confidential

Information; or

iv. It is required by law to be disclosed, provided that the receiving party provides to the disclosing

party as much notice as is practicable under the circumstances of such requirement prior to

disclosure and provides to the disclosing party, at the disclosing party’s expense, such

reasonable assistance as the disclosing party requests in seeking confidential treatment,

protective orders, nondisclosure, and/or similar measures.

For the avoidance of doubt, none of the requirements of this Section shall prohibit Provider from disclosing

Confidential Information to the extent that such information is required to be disclosed pursuant to any

open records law, open meetings law, or any other local public disclosure law applicable to Provider.

20. Wallet Services

Provider may elect to provide parking customers with a virtual wallet (a “wallet program”). With a wallet

program, parking customers would be required to prepay funds into a wallet account for the payment of

future parking fees and/or transit ticket fares. Provider and Passport shall agree in advance on the minimum

amount required to fund the wallet.

21. Marketing and Design Services

At Provider’s request, Passport may provide marketing and design services to Provider as value-added

services to Provider in connection with the services provided under this Agreement. Provider should

contact its Passport sales associate for additional details pertaining to these services. Any services selected

and any applicable fees and terms will be memorialized in a written addendum to this Agreement and shall

be incorporated herein by reference.

22. Cooperative Purchasing

Provider will allow any public agency located in the United States to purchase, and Passport to offer to such

public agency or agencies, the Software at the same price and under the same conditions agreed upon in

this Agreement without any competitive bidding on the part of such public agency or agencies, to the extent

permitted by law. Each such public agency will execute its own contract directly with Passport and Provider

shall not incur any responsibility—financial or otherwise—in connection therewith.

23. Force Majeure

Neither Passport nor Provider will be held liable for any delay or omission in performance of their duties

under this Agreement resulting from causes beyond their reasonable control, including, for the sake of

illustration and not limitation, delays or omissions attributable to third-party vendors, suppliers, or

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

integration partners, labor strikes, acts of god, acts of the public enemy, fires, natural disasters, wars, or

riots.

24. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Software is provided to Provider by Passport “as is” and with all faults. Provider acknowledges and

agrees that Passport bears no liability for any error, omission, defect, deficiency, or nonconformity within

the Software except as expressly provided in this Agreement. Other than as specifically set forth herein,

Passport does not make any representations, warranties, or guarantees, express or implied, directly or

indirectly, including, without limitation, any warranty of condition, merchantability, or fitness for a

particular purpose or use, with respect to, arising out of, or in connection with the Software and related

services to be performed pursuant to this Agreement.

25. Severability

If any provision of the agreement is found to violate applicable law, the violating provision will be

ineffective only to the extent that it violates the law, without invalidating the remainder of the section

containing the violating provision or any other provisions or sections of this Agreement. Any court or

arbitrator adjudicating the matter of the invalidity of a provision shall, to the extent permitted by law, reform

any such illegal or unenforceable provision such as to give it the maximum effect.

26. Assignment

This Agreement and all of its provisions will be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties and

their respective permitted successors and assignees. Neither Passport nor Provider may assign any rights,

interests, or obligations hereunder without prior written consent of the other party, provided, however, that

Passport may, without such written consent, assign this agreement and its rights and delegate its obligations

hereunder in connection with the transfer or sale of all or substantially all of its assets or business related

to this agreement, or in the event of its merger, consolidation, change in control or similar transaction. Any

permitted assignee shall assume all assigned obligations of its assignor under this agreement. Any purported

assignment in violation of this section shall be void and of no effect.

27. Contractual Silence

To the extent this Agreement fails to address a condition, obligation, benefit, or other term necessary to

sufficiently define the relationship between the parties or a disagreement or conflict regarding the

interpretation or construction of this Agreement arises, the parties agree to reasonably cooperate to draft a

mutually agreeable amendment that clarifies the duties, rights, and obligations of the parties under this

Agreement.

28. Amendments

The parties may not amend or modify this agreement except by a written instrument signed by an authorized

signatory of each party.

29. Currency

Unless otherwise specified in the Agreement, all fees and other monetary amounts are in U.S. Dollars. If a

currency other than the U.S. Dollar is specified, the exchange rate will be fixed at the foreign exchange rate

published by the United States Federal Reserve on the date the payment of remittance is transmitted from

Provider to Passport, or vice versa, as the case may be.

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

30. Cooperate

If either Provider or Passport has a claim, dispute, or other matter in question for breach of duty, obligations,

services rendered or any warranty that arises under this agreement, the parties agree to cooperate in good

faith to achieve a satisfactory resolution of such matter. If after sixty (60) days the dispute remains

unresolved, the parties may pursue other remedies available at law or in equity. Notwithstanding the

foregoing, either party shall have the right to immediately seek any applicable remedies available at law or

in equity for a breach or threatened breach of the confidentiality obligations as set forth in Section 19.

31. Independent Contractor

Passport is an independent contractor and not an agent or employee of Provider. No agency, partnership,

franchise, joint venture, or employment relationship exists between Passport and Provider. Passport’s

employees and agents will not be employees or agents of Provider. Passport shall be fully and solely

responsible for the supervision, control, performance, compensation, benefits (including, without

limitation, all forms of insurance) withholdings, health and safety of all of its employees and agents.

Provider will not be responsible or liable for any withholding taxes or contributions to state worker’s

compensation, unemployment or other funds or programs.

32. Limitation of Liability

In no event will Passport be liable to Provider for any lost profits, lost savings, or punitive, incidental,

indirect, special, or consequential damages arising out of Provider’s use or inability to use the Software or

the breach of this agreement, even if Passport has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

33. Notices

All notices, consents, and communications required hereunder shall be given in writing and delivered via

electronic mail or mail, shall be deemed to be given upon receipt thereof, and shall be sent to the address

below:

If to Passport:

Passport Labs, Inc.

Attn: Khristian Gutierrez

128 S. Tryon St., Suite 2200

Charlotte, NC 28202

Fax: (888) 804-1783

khristian.gutierrez@passportinc.com

With a hard copy to General Counsel and by email to jason.Idilbi@passportinc.com

If to Provider at the contact information provided on the “General Terms” page.

34. Construction

No rule of law that requires that any part of the Agreement be construed against the party drafting the

language will be used in interpreting this Agreement.

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

35. Waiver

Any failure or delay by Passport to enforce the provisions of this Agreement shall in no way constitute a

waiver by Passport of any contractual right hereunder, unless such waiver is in writing and signed by

Passport.

36. Entire Agreement

This Agreement contains the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter of this

Agreement and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications, representations or agreements

between the parties, whether verbal or written, including any printed terms and conditions which may

appear on either Party’s purchase orders, releases, invoices or other forms to the extent such terms are

different from or inconsistent with this Agreement.

Passport SLSA (November 2017)

Confidential

↧

Fraudfeasing client-cheating ex-prosecutor CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC Sentenced to Prison

January 9, 2019, 9:29 pm

≫ Next: Fish Island Ditch Delayed, Party House Rezoning Denied (SAR)

≪ Previous: DOES PASSPORT LABS, INC. "CONFIDENTIAL" CONTRACT VIOLATE FLORIDA OPEN RECORDS LAW?

Ex-prosecutor was sentenced for stealing money from tort victims and insurance company on January 9, 2019: CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC -- 22 months in prison and ten years probation and restitution to all of his client-victims.

Circuit Court Judge Howard M. Maltz accepted the felony guilty plea and sentenced lawyer CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC .

An amended information was filed on February 28, 2017, charging ADAMED stole more than $100,000 from three clients and one insurance company -- Linda Jean Masters, Matthew Narin, Paul Casey and Allstate Insurance Company.

ADAMEC is represented by Jacksonville Beach criminal defense lawyer Michell Stone.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant State's Attorney Rebecca Emert.

Former 8th Circuit prosecuting attorney CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC, 44, was first charged and arrested Friday, August 11, 2017 for felony larceny and fraud charges allegedly stealing $54,000 from an automobile wreck victim.

ADAMEC was quickly released after he posted bail on Friday, August 11, 2017, after some 96 minutes in St. Johns County Jail. Bond was set at $20,000.

Here's the St. Johns County Jail log for CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC:

Enlarge Photo

ADAMEC, CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM (W/ MALE )
Status:	Released
Booking No:	SJSO17JBN003529	MniNo:	SJSO13MNI034105
Booking Date:	08/11/2017 08:48:41	Released:	8/11/2017 10:23:16 AM
Age On Booking Date:	44
Bond Amount:	$20000.00
Address Given:	1822 W COBBLESTONE LN SAINT AUGUSTINE, FL 32092

CHARGES
	STATUTE	COURT CASE NUMBER	CHARGE	DEGREE	LEVEL	BOND
[+]	812.014.2b1	PI17-52 (ST. JOHNS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)	LARC	S	F	$10000.00
[+]	817.034.4a1	PI17-52 (ST. JOHNS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE)	FRAUD-SWINDLE	F	F	$10000.00

ADAMEC is a World Golf Village gated community resident, a registered Republican who brags about his "family values" on his website, a J.D. graduate of controversial for-profit Florida Coastal School of Law and graduate of the University of Miami, to which he won a tennis scholarship. In website PR, ADAMEC brags about his client service and service to the community.

The victim appears credible and documented her case after being a victim of alleged fraud. Rear-end car crash victim Linda Masters required surgery. Ms. Masters hired ADAMEC, a longtime prosecutor in the 8th Circuit, which includes Gainesville and Starke. ADAMEC stole $54,000 from her, the criminal complaint alleges.

Ms. Masters alleges on-camera that ADAMEC laughed at her and dared her to go to The Florida Bar, becoming evasive when she called about $54,000 in settlement proceeds he stole and refused to return.

ADAMEC's law license was suspended July 28, FCN reports.

A March 2017 civil fraud and malpractice complaint is pending against ADAMEC in St. Johns County Circuit Court, before Judge Traynor awaiting a jury trial. alleging that he charged a local woman's father in Georgia some $235,000 to represent her in her uncontested divorce action and a domestic violence injunction, charging phantom expenses and unearned fees.

ADAMEC bragged on his website about being a former prosecutor, having "compassion, experience and genuine caring for people," bragging on his "family values" and "integrity," saying he is "the people's lawyer" and a "true, honest, caring and hardworking attorney" who will "settle for no less than the justice [his clients] deserve":

About Us

As a former prosecutor, Christopher Adamec thrived and excelled at representing victims of crime in the State of Florida. Now as a personal injury and family law attorney he is using that same compassion, experience and genuine caring for people in the area of civil and criminal law.

Christopher Adamec was raised in a traditional blue collared family that believed in strong family values and his parents taught him to care for people and that the most important thing that you have as a person in society is integrity. Adamec holds himself to a higher standard and believes that a person's integrity cannot be compromised. These core values are the reason why Adamec is the peoples' lawyer and when people are represented by him, they will get a true, honest, caring and hard working attorney on their side ... an attorney that will settle for no less than the justice that they deserve.

Here's the First Coast News video of the first ADAMEC victim to come forward and speak to journalists about former prosecutor CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC's alleged crimes against his clients and the justice system in Florida:

Here's ADAMEC's Florida Bar listing, confirming First Coast News report that he's "suspended":

View in new tab

Christopher William Adamec

Suspended

Not Eligible to Practice Law in Florida

Bar Number:

631701

Mail Address:

Law Office of Christopher W. Adamec, PA
Christopher W. Adamec, P.A.
1822 W Cobblestone Ln
St Augustine, FL 32092-2799
United States

Office: 904-940-5400

Fax: 904-940-5445

Email:

chris@adameclaw.com

Personal Bar URL:

https://www.floridabar.org/mybarprofile/631701

vCard:

County:

St. Johns

Circuit:

Admitted:

05/05/2003

10-Year Discipline History:

Show Details

Law School:

Florida Coastal School of Law, 2000

Practice Areas:

Adoption

Child and Family

Civil Litigation

Civil Trial

Criminal

Estate Planning

Family

Guardianship

Marital and Family

Personal Injury

Probate and Trust Litigation

Product Liability

Federal Courts:

U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida

State Courts:

Florida

Firm:

Law Office of Christopher W. Adamec, PA

Firm Position:

Private Law Practice

Firm Website:

www.adameclaw.com

Here's ADAMEC's PR spin in the World Golf Village blog:

SEP

Christopher W. Adamec, P.A.: Expert Counsel and Personal Service Right in Our Own Backyard

Posted by: Caryn Best in Uncategorized

I was looking forward to meeting Attorney Christopher W. Adamec, P.A. because I was aware of the generous support he has provided to our local schools, including Mill Creek Elementary, Ward’s Creek Elementary and Pacetti Bay Middle School. Adamec set up practice in the World Golf Village area about two years ago and in October he will move The Law Offices of Christopher W. Adamec, P.A., Attorney and Counselor at Law to a storefront location at The Shoppes of Murabella for better visibility. “Most of our business has been word-of-mouth which is a great testament to our service and value, but we want more of our neighbors to know that they don’t have to go to Jacksonville for excellent counsel or representation,” said Adamec.

Adamec’s services include family law, personal injury and criminal defense. His rates are more affordable than people might expect, starting at $75 per hour for consultation in family law and other matters, and no fee for personal injury consultation. Adamec explains, “Fees are definitely one of the biggest misconceptions about seeing an attorney. For example, I recently helped a couple divorcing who had agreed on their marital settlement. I was able to take care of all their paperwork and get everything finalized in about two weeks so they could get on with their lives and the fee was under $2,000.” He added, “Unfortunately we’re seeing divorce really bog down the court system right now and create major headaches for people who are ready to move on. There’s a lot of paperwork and if it’s not handled correctly, it can result in multiple courthouse visits. An attorney can ease some of the hassle, worry and frustration in a situation that’s already stressful.”

Personal service is of utmost importance to Adamec. His family law services range from trusts and wills to divorce and child support; his personal injury experience ranges from auto accidents to medical malpractice, and he also handles criminal defense for traffic, misdemeanors and felonies. His clients are not passed off to less-experienced associates – Adamec handles cases personally and with care. “I’m people-oriented. I believe strongly in working and giving back in the community in which you live,” said Adamec, a resident of the King & Bear in World Golf Village. “That’s why I donate to each of the local schools, not just the one my sons attend.”

Much of Adamec’s experience was gleaned from the time he spent as a Prosecutor for the State of Florida representing victims of crime. “Being a State Prosecutor is a tough job but it really prepares you for the Florida court system and legal process in a way that nothing else can,” explains Adamec. I suspect the same dedication, precision and competitive spirit that earned Attorney Christopher W. Adamec, P.A. a tennis scholarship to the University of Miami have been the keys to his success as a State of Florida Prosecutor and now as a successful Attorney in private practice. After getting his undergraduate degree from the University of Miami, he earned his law degree at Florida Coastal. He has admissions to practice law with the State of Florida, United States District Court of the Northern District of Florida and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. In addition to St. Johns County, Adamec serves Duval, Alachua, Bradford, Baker, Clay and Union counties. Visit his website at www.adameclaw.com, send him an email at chris@adameclaw.com or give him a call at (888) 4ADAMEC to learn more.

↧

Fish Island Ditch Delayed, Party House Rezoning Denied (SAR)

January 10, 2019, 8:08 am

≫ Next: DeSantis names Supreme Court pick and considers yanking Scott's last-minute appointments. (Naples Daily News)

≪ Previous: Fraudfeasing client-cheating ex-prosecutor CHRISTOPHER WILLIAM ADAMEC Sentenced to Prison

Good news. I am impressed with our current St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board, which has shown remarkably good judgment in rejecting unlawful, unwise zoning requests by developers.
We're preserving and protecting Our Town, and governments are increasingly listing to the people.

Rezoning rejected for Bridge Street property; Fish Island drainage project delayed

By Sheldon Gardner
By Stuart Korfhage
Posted Jan 9, 2019 at 9:52 PM
Updated Jan 9, 2019 at 9:52 PM

St. Augustine Planning and Zoning Board members voted unanimously to recommend denial of a request to rezone the house at 7 Bridge St. from Historic Preservation One to Planned Unit Development.

Sandy and Mike Wieber, who own one property next door called the Bayfront Marin House, applied for the rezoning to have more flexibility in allowing weddings and rentals at the site. They wanted to be able to host weddings of up to 60 guests and, on non-wedding nights, allow the house to be rented as two units.

The current agreement with the city, hashed out with property owner Blake Deal III after code enforcement proceedings, allows the house to be leased for a 30-day period and to be used to host weddings, anniversaries and similar events with up to 45 guests.

Planning board member Carl Blow cited protection of the historic preservation district’s residential quality of life in his decision.

“I’m concerned that what’s going to happen in the city of St. Augustine is we’re not going to have any residents living in the city. As we lose residents, the very benefit and the attraction of this city will disappear. It’s disappearing now,” he said.

In other business

The PZB agreed to continue — apparently right before the board members were about to deny — a plan by Fish Island Development to remove trees to make room for a water detention system for a planned commercial development at the southwest corner of State Road 312 and Plantation Island Drive South.

This Fish Island project is different from the recent proposal by D.R. Horton to rezone about 70 acres of Fish Island for construction of up to 170 homes.

The tree removal was requested for a 48-foot wide drainage pond/swale, according to the application. The proposed swale leads to the Matanzas River.

The drainage project is needed to treat the stormwater associated with the adjacent commercial project, expected to be a 20,000-square-foot, a single-story building with multiple units.

PZB members found several issues with the project.

“I think you’re taking the cheapest and easiest way out right now,” board member Karen Zander said. “I think that’s a real problem.”

Board member Carl Blow was more concerned about a foreclosure case involving Fish Island Development that is ongoing.

“I don’t believe it’s a good idea to move forward with this without the bank’s involvement,” he said.

• Another tree removal hearing was continued after a lengthy discussion by PZA members. It involved the property at 709 S. Ponce de Leon Drive that used to be home to a branch office of CenterState Bank.

The applicant was asking to remove one tree from the parking area and to build a 330-foot-long retaining wall. At the time of the application, the goal was to use the property for a restaurant in an approximately 5,000-square-foot building.

↧

DeSantis names Supreme Court pick and considers yanking Scott's last-minute appointments. (Naples Daily News)

January 10, 2019, 8:14 am

≫ Next: Judge: Gov. Rick Scott violated embattled Broward County election supervisor's rights. (AP)

≪ Previous: Fish Island Ditch Delayed, Party House Rezoning Denied (SAR)

Congratulations to new Florida Governor RON DeSANTIS for reconsidering last-minute appointments and working to reverse eight years of environmental law desuetude.

Why did outgoing Governor RICHARD LYNN SCOTT ignore requests from incoming Governor RONALD DION DeSANTIS not to name any new appointees during the transition? You tell me.

SICK RICK's midnight appointments are deeply offensive, and should be reconsidered, starting with SCOTT's naming Fish and Game Commissioner his controversial Chair of the Constitution Revision Commission: developer CARLOS BERUFF, , the oaf who appeared before St. Johns County Republican Executive Committee and twice called President Obama "an animal," a fact belatedly reported by St. Augustine Record only after it was reported statewide, and demurely stating only that BERUFF made his remarks before a local Republican group.

DeSantis names Supreme Court pick and considers yanking Scott's last-minute appointments

Ana Ceballos, Naples Daily NewsPublished 4:54 p.m. ET Jan. 9, 2019

Gov. Ron DeSantis gives his inaugural speech after being sworn in as the 46th Governor of Florida.Tori Schneider, Tallahassee Democrat

TALLAHASSEE – On his first full day as Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis made his mark by announcing a Supreme Court appointment and starting a process that might undo a flurry of “lame-duck” appointments made by Rick Scott before he left office.

One of the last-minute appointments Scott made among more than 100 announced in his final days was naming to the state’s wildlife commission a developer who once ran against DeSantis.

“We requested weeks ago that the Scott administration stop making appointments, and they made us know they had no reverence for that request,” said U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Fort Walton Beach, a close ally of DeSantis and a transition team member.

While acknowledging the transition between DeSantis and Scott was rocky, the new governor’s administration is settling in as DeSantis becomes more comfortable with his executive power.

His first major appointment came Wednesday, when he named Barbara Lagoa to serve on Florida’s Supreme Court.

Lagoa, the first Cuban-American woman to serve on the state’s highest court, was identified earlier by DeSantis among a list of nominees he was considering for three appointments that could reshape the liberal-leaning court.

In case you missed it: Ron DeSantis sworn in, again cementing Republican rule in Sunshine State

More: Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to hit the ground running

DeSantis had vetted the Miami judge for the lieutenant governor position, which eventually went to Lt. Gov. Jeannette Nunez, Gaetz said.

There are seven other finalists to fill the two other empty seats on the high court. Those candidates, whom DeSantis said he has personally interviewed, include former Republican state lawmaker Bruce Kyle, a judge in the 20th circuit that includes Lee County; and Timothy Osterhaus, a judge in the 1st District Court of Appeal in Tallahassee.

There are no African-American nominees on DeSantis’ final list, meaning there will be no black justices in Florida’s highest court after the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Peggy Quince. DeSantis said he did not know the race of the candidates before he met with them individually.

“I will only appoint judges who understand the proper role of the courts is to apply the law and Constitution as written, not to legislate from the bench,” DeSantis said shortly after being sworn in Tuesday as Florida’s 46th governor.

While he hit the ground running with the Supreme Court appointment, he is expected to take some time reviewing the last-minute appointments made by Scott.

More: Incoming Florida Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez, First Lady Casey DeSantis vow to take active roles in Ron DeSantis administration

Ron DeSantis: I'm committed to pursuing a bold agenda for Florida

DeSantis took a moment during his inauguration speech Tuesday to praise Scott as he was leaving office after two terms to become Florida's newest U.S. senator.

"Senator, your laser-like focus on improving Florida's economy has meant so much in the lives of so many in our state," DeSantis said. "You are leaving a strong foundation from which we here today can build."

↧

Judge: Gov. Rick Scott violated embattled Broward County election supervisor's rights. (AP)

January 10, 2019, 10:15 am

≫ Next: Commissioners REJECT PASSPORT LABS, INC. "Confidential" Contract for parking app in St. Augustine Beach

≪ Previous: DeSantis names Supreme Court pick and considers yanking Scott's last-minute appointments. (Naples Daily News)

The Governor's powers to suspend local officials under Article IV, Section 7 of our Florida Constitution is limited by the requirement for due process and a right to be heard. Another righteous ruling by United States District Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida in Tallahassee. From AP:

Judge: Gov. Rick Scott violated embattled Broward County election supervisor's rights

The Associated PressPublished 9:41 p.m. ET Jan. 9, 2019

Meet Brenda Snipes, supervisor of elections in Broward County. GINNY BEAGAN/TCPALM Wochit

TALLAHASSEE — Former Gov. and current U.S. Sen. Rick Scott violated a former state election official's constitutional rights when he suspended and "vilified" her without first allowing her to make her own case, a Florida federal judge ruled Wednesday.

U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said newly inaugurated Gov. Ron DeSantis must grant former Broward County elections supervisor Brenda Snipes a "meaningful opportunity to be heard" regarding her suspension by March 31.

Snipes came under fire during the contentious recount that followed the 2018 elections and a legally required recount in close races for governor and U.S. Senate. In the aftermath of the November election, Snipes said she would resign on Jan. 4, but Scott immediately suspended her. Snipes then attempted to rescind her resignation and challenged the governor's suspension as "malicious" and politically motivated.

Previously: Broward County elections supervisor suspended by Gov. Rick Scott

Walker ruled that Scott's decision was an "effective termination" and violated Snipes' due process rights. The judge also said that Scott's order suspending Snipes contained "falsehoods."

Still, Walker said he does not have the authority to reinstate Snipes, writing that the court is "not determining what the ultimate outcome will or should be."

Attorneys for Scott had argued the governor had the authority to remove her from office. Neither Scott nor DeSantis immediately responded to requests for comment on the decision.

More: Broward County results reveal questionable voting patterns

Scott suspended Snipes for misfeasance, incompetence and neglect of duty, and appointed his former general counsel to take her place. In his executive order, Scott cited problems during the recount, including reports of more than 2,000 ballots being misplaced. Norris-Weeks contended that some of the problems cited by Scott were not caused by Snipes.

Broward County Supervisor of Election's office works a more than 30-hour operation of sorting the first page of ballots from 3.5 million pages of ballots on Sunday, Nov. 11, 2018, at the elections office in Lauderhill, Florida. The Secretary of State has ordered a machine recount in the Governor, U.S. Senate, and the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture contests.

Buy Photo

1 of 37

Last Slide Next Slide

Daniel Nordby, who has been Scott's general counsel, said the governor took action when he did because he "determined the people of Broward County deserved a supervisor of elections" who could prepare for upcoming spring municipal elections in a "competent manner."

Snipes is suing both Scott and the GOP-controlled Florida Senate. The lawsuit named the Senate because that chamber's Republican leader said there was not time to investigate the allegations against Snipes before her resignation took effect. Florida law requires the Senate to either remove or reinstate county officials who are suspended by the governor.

Snipes had been the top elections official in Broward County since 2003, when then-Gov. Jeb Bush appointed her. She had been elected three times and her current term was not scheduled to end until 2020.

↧

Commissioners REJECT PASSPORT LABS, INC. "Confidential" Contract for parking app in St. Augustine Beach

January 10, 2019, 11:03 am

≫ Next: Post office to be named for black postmaster who was lynched in 1898 -- Frazier B. Baker was the first black postmaster in Lake City, South Carolina. (NBC News/AP)

≪ Previous: Judge: Gov. Rick Scott violated embattled Broward County election supervisor's rights. (AP)

Our St. Augustine Beach neighbors filled City Hall January 8th and won victory over the dodgy proposed PASSPORT LABS, INC. "Confidential" contract to provide, at 35 cent "convenience fee" per parking session, paid smartphone app and telephone credit card payments for 300 parking spaces.

NO PASSPORT LABS, INC. corporate representative showed to defend the propose contract. Last month, PASSPORT's saleswoman promised to return in January.

Monday night, 33 witnesses testified against 300 paid parking spaces proposed by St. Augustine Beach City Manager BRUCE MAX ROYLE, the dotty man who sometimes sleeps in meetings.

The PASSPORT LABS, INC. smartphone paid parking scheme appears to violate:

Americans with Disabilities Act, with NO spaces for disabled persons.
Florida Sunshine law, with NO mandatory Open Records clause required by F.S. 119.0701, and illegal "confidentiality" clause (Section 19).
Violates fiduciary duty, with NO business plan.
Violates property rights, and neighbors' right to peaceful quiet enjoyment.
Equal protection clause, discriminatory allowing free parking for specific favored businesses on City property, but charging workers and residents to park on other city property.
Violates worker rights, diminishing minimum wage employees pay on parking fees.
Violates the equal protection and due process clauses.

Hearing the voice of the people, Commissioners:

DECLINED to agree to PASSPORT's unconscionable adhesion contract of adhesion in violation of public policy
ENACTED an ordinance allowing the City Manager to designate zones for future paid parking.
AGREED no one should be required to use an app or credit card for parking.
AGREED tentatively there should be free parking for residents.
AGREED there must be disabled spaces before proceeding with the plan.
AGREED that staff must:

1) Check with the SJC to see why the bulldozer is not smoothing down the beach.

2) Ask the City of St. Augustine is working with SJC on their paid parking.

3) Write a new pro forma for paid parking.

4) Write a business plan.

5) Write a thank you to all the residents that attending last night’s meeting and put it on the website.

6) Have monthly updates with SJC and keep involved with what they are doing.

7) Keep the task list going.

8) Work with County Commissioner Henry Dean to get his status report.

9) Have updated parking item on each agenda.

10) Have meeting with Royle, Melissa Burns, Chief Robert Hardwick, Anthony Johns, and you to discuss when Parking Enforcement Specialist should be hired.

11) Have Code Enforcement Officer write violations if a transient rentals have too many cars at the rented location.

12) Have the map on paid parking done quickly or accelerated.

13) Discuss whether to have a resident workshop with staff regarding paid parking and who will be doing it.

14) Send Commissioners weekly updates on the status of conversations with SJC, County Commissioner Dean, City of St. Augustine, and staff regarding paid parking.

Inexplicably absent: NO PASSPORT LABS, INC. corporate representative showed, as was promised last month.

Other no-shows at the tense packed meeting where IT Director Anthony Johns: after my e-mail on the contract, there was no presentation or suggestion to adopt the unconscionable contract of adhesion in violation of public policy.

Here's what former Mayor Sherman Gary Snodgrass said to me in a text message, which I read to Commissioners:

As to parking, it's most likely a matter of when, not if. Any such efforts should be planned and coordinated with the County. Why should the City go first? Makes no sense. We all do it together or none of us do it. All legal requirements including ADA provisions should be met before any such effort is launched. There should be agreement on use of potential net fees and cost of compliance/operation should be carefully controlled. Use net fees for specific capital projects such as piping, roads or park development. Value added projects not just "part of the budget". Go slow to run faster later.

Happy New Year -- what do you reckon?

Unadorned by any discussion of disabled parking spaces, here's spin from St. Augustine Record:

St. Augustine Beach parking plan stalled, but still on tap

By Sheldon Gardner
Posted at 2:01 AM
St. Augustine Record
January 10, 2019

Just about everyone who spoke at a St. Augustine Beach meeting this week opposed the city’s plans to charge people to park in the city.

While commissioners decided to revisit parking rates after hearing from residents, they’re still moving ahead with the effort to put a paid parking system in place this year possibly in coordination with St. Johns County.

“If they actually listen to the residents, that’s not even an option,” beach resident Laurel Dean said Wednesday.

Dean was among more than 30 people who spoke at Tuesday’s special meeting. In addition to contesting the city’s right to implement its plan, she showed commissioners the results of an online survey she created. The survey showed that about 94 percent of more than 300 people voted against paid parking at the beach. Some people who took the survey don’t live or own property in the city.

Dean seemed to sum up the sentiment of many in the room when she ended her presentation.

“Take this whole plan and park it,” she said.

The special meeting began with a packed house, with some people standing up and others watching the meeting on a TV from the hallway outside because of the crowd.

People said they were concerned about family and friends having to pay to visit them. Some accused the city of being mismanaged. Some pleaded with the Commission to consider minimum wage workers who would have to pay to park and go to work.

Marla Ward, who technically lives in St. Johns County but is about a mile from the coast of St. Augustine Beach, was among those who opposed the plan on Tuesday. Ward spoke with The Record on Wednesday.

“I really don’t want to pay for parking. ... I probably will tend to go somewhere else to avoid it, honestly. I don’t go downtown because of the parking situation very often,” Ward said.

The only item that formally moved ahead on Tuesday is an ordinance that will allow the city manager to create or change zones for paid parking, and it allows parking rates, fines, payment methods and enforcement hours to be set by the City Commission via resolution. The ordinance will come back to the Commission for another vote.

Several decisions are still ahead for the city.

The future depends in part on what St. Johns County does. The county, which controls the pier, is considering implementing paid parking at the pier parking lot, City Manager Max Royle said. Commissioners want to implement the city’s system in coordination with the county’s effort if possible.

The Commission has yet to formally pass rates or sign a contract with a vendor to implement a pay-by-phone system. After Tuesday’s comments, commissioners asked for the city to look into parking discounts for local employees and deeper discounts for local residents, including the possibility of free parking for city residents.

The Commission had previously supported charging hourly rates from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. of $2.50 an hour for non-residents, $1.25 for St. Augustine residents and 50 cents for St. Augustine Beach residents.

Mayor Undine George said commissioners expect to have updates on the plan at the Commission’s February meeting.

George said growth has put pressure on the city and its expenses, including maintaining parking spaces. Charging for parking allows the city to have tourists share the cost, she said.

“If we don’t do anything then we’re going to have the same level of service, which (I) guarantee you will continue to degrade as the extra use is made from the ongoing increase of tourism, or we will have to increase the residents’ taxes because everything else is going up.”

Will county follow (sic) St. Augustine Beach and charge for off-beach parking?

By Stuart Korfhage
Posted at 2:01 AM. January 10, 2019
St. Augustine Record

With St. Augustine Beach apparently moving forward on a plan to charge for city lots near the beach, beach-goers will now look to see what the county will do with its lots.

Right now, it’s an open question.

St. Johns County spokesman Michael Ryan said the county has been studying the issue of charging to park in lots around the ocean for several years. But so far, it has not settled on any plan.

It will be an interesting situation should the city of St. Augustine Beach implement a pay-for-parking plan before the county does because the most viable parking lot in the city is actually a county lot at Pier Park.

At Tuesday’s Beach Commission meeting, City Manager Max Royle indicated that he was under the impression that the county was planning to bring a paid parking plan to the County Commission in April and then implement it by the summer.

Ryan said the Commission has given the administration direction to prepare a request for proposal for paid parking plans. He said that will go out probably in February, and the county will take proposals for 60-90 days.

As for bringing a polished proposal before the board, Ryan said that won’t happen until “late spring/early summer.” But nothing will be implemented until and if the Commission chooses to charge for parking.

“We have direction to put out an RFP and explore what the program could potentially look like,” Ryan said. “Right now, the RFP will explore all of those opportunities and see what kind of proposals come back to us. That gives us the opportunity to look at the highest and best proposal that fits our needs.”

The County Commission hasn’t voted on any specific details of a parking plan.

“We are not as far along as the Beach is,” Ryan said. “They have moved at a slightly more rapid pace than we have.”

So at this point, it’s impossible to say whether the county will have any kind of off-beach parking fee system. And if it does have one, it’s much too early to say which lots will be included and what kind of system might be used — like an all-digital payment system, parking meters, lot attendants, etc.

That means there’s no guarantee that the system chosen by the Beach will match the county system if the county decides to begin charging for parking.

“We do look for opportunities to work together where possible,” Ryan said. “Early on there was some discussion on: Is there a way to integrate all of the parking into one program? Those discussions were all preliminary.

“That was certainly under consideration for convenience sake.”

While it’s impossible to say what the commissioners will do once they have a proposal in front of them, they have shown a willingness to charge user fees for recreational activities in order to pay for maintenance, service and infrastructure improvements.

They’ve recently discussed charging a fee for the use of boat ramps.

The county already charges a fee for driving and parking on the beach, and county residents are able to purchase annual passes.

“This Commission during the past couple of years has trended toward a more user fee-based system of funds and revenue,” Ryan said. “Us exploring off-beach parking fees is just one more step in that direction.”

↧

Post office to be named for black postmaster who was lynched in 1898 -- Frazier B. Baker was the first black postmaster in Lake City, South Carolina. (NBC News/AP)

January 10, 2019, 2:26 pm

≫ Next: Gibson Dunn, Reporters Committee Ask Courts to Unseal Records in Apparent Mueller Subpoena Fight. (National Law Journal)

≪ Previous: Commissioners REJECT PASSPORT LABS, INC. "Confidential" Contract for parking app in St. Augustine Beach

It happened in America, on February 22, 1898. An African-American postmaster, Frazier B. Baker, was lynched by racists after he declined to resign the job he was appointed to by President William McKinley. President McKinley was shot by an assassin in 1901, dying two days later. From NBC/AP:

Jan. 9, 2019, 4:35 PM EST / Source: Associated Press

By Associated Press

LAKE CITY, S.C. — A South Carolina town's post office will be named in honor of its first black postmaster, Frazier B. Baker, who was lynched in 1898 after he refused to resign.

Lavinia Baker and her five surviving children after the lynching of her husband and baby on Feb. 22, 1898.Library of Congress

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., introduced a bill to rename the office after Baker, saying it would ensure that his story won't be forgotten, according to The Post and Courier.

The state's entire congressional delegation co-sponsored it, and President Donald Trump signed it into law last month before the government shutdown began.

President William McKinley chose Baker, then 42 and a school teacher, as postmaster in 1897. The next year, a white mob burned his house and post office, and fatally shot him and his baby daughter. Baker's wife and their five other children barely escaped.

↧

Gibson Dunn, Reporters Committee Ask Courts to Unseal Records in Apparent Mueller Subpoena Fight. (National Law Journal)

January 10, 2019, 2:40 pm

≫ Next: Gov. DeSantis Pledges $2.5 Billion for Environment, Asks SFWMD Board to Resign (WGCU)

≪ Previous: Post office to be named for black postmaster who was lynched in 1898 -- Frazier B. Baker was the first black postmaster in Lake City, South Carolina. (NBC News/AP)

Prediction: Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press will win this motion to unseal the files on the foreign government controlled corporation's lawsuit. "Justice may not be done in a corner, nor in any covert manner." -- Fundamental Laws of West New Jersey (1676), ch. XXIII.

From National Law Journal:

Gibson Dunn, Reporters Committee Ask Courts to Unseal Records in Apparent Mueller Subpoena Fight

A Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher team headed by Theodore Boutrous Jr. is asking the U.S. Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit to unseal briefs and transcripts involving a contempt order apparently tied to the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is asking to unseal court records in the legal fight over a contempt order against a foreign state-owned corporation refusing to comply with a grand jury subpoena apparently tied to Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.

A Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher team headed by Theodore Boutrous Jr. filed motions in both the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit Wednesday claiming that sealing orders in the subpoena fight have been overbroad. The Reporters Committee is asking for redacted copies of briefs, transcripts and other documents filed thus far and for any future proceedings to be open to the public.

“That this appeal arises out of contempt proceedings does not eradicate the First Amendment right,” wrote the Gibson Dunn lawyers. “In the event the Court grants certiorari, RCFP respectfully requests that the Court direct the filing of publicly redacted versions of all merits briefs, that any oral argument be held publicly, and that a redacted oral argument transcript and recording be publicly filed,” they wrote.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday restored a contempt order in the case but has not addressed the merits of an underlying decision by the D.C. Circuit that said the unidentified corporation must comply with the grand jury subpoena. The Washington Post reported Tuesday that the company involved is a foreign financial institution. On Wednesday, CNN reported that Alston & Bird is involved in challenging the grand jury subpoena.

In an emailed statement Wednesday, Boutrous said the First Amendment protects the public’s right to observe appellate proceedings. “We are hopeful that the D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court will grant to the public the widest access possible under these circumstances,” he said. “There is intense interest in these proceedings—all of which appear to affect matters of grave national import. This is precisely the interest the First Amendment’s right of public access was meant to protect,” he said.

Gibson Dunn and Boutrous previously represented CNN and reporter Jim Acosta in a successful challenge to the Trump administration’s decision to suspend Acosta’s access to the White House.

Read the Reporters Committee’s Supreme Court Brief:

Read the Reporters Committee’s D.C. Circuit Brief:

Justices Restore Contempt Order Against Corporation Defying Apparent Mueller Subpoena

What Happens If Mystery DC Circuit Grand Jury Case Reaches the Supreme Court?

DC Circuit Just Delivered Blow to Company Fighting Apparent Mueller Subpoena

Judge Orders Trump to Restore CNN Reporter’s Access to White House

↧

Millions face delayed tax refunds, cuts to food stamps as White House scrambles to deal with shutdown’s consequences

Paul M. Hawkes

Mailing Address:

Phone Number:

Principals:

Paul M. Hawkes

Mailing Address:

Phone Number:

Principals:

Government shutdown: Federal inmates feast on Cornish hens, steak as prison guards labor without pay

Witness list in sexual harassment retaliation case includes top legislators, insiders

Digital Access For Only $0.99

DUTCH SAND ENGINE SOLUTION COMES TO THE UK

Sand engine

Contents

Air pollution and emissions

COMPLETED

IN PROCESS

Drilling and extraction

COMPLETED

IN PROCESS

Infrastructure and planning

COMPLETED

IN PROCESS

Animals

COMPLETED

IN PROCESS

Toxic substances and safety

COMPLETED

IN PROCESS

Water pollution

COMPLETED

IN PROCESS

Other

COMPLETED

IN PROCESS

11 rules were reinstated followinglawsuits and other challenges

About Us

Christopher William Adamec

Christopher W. Adamec, P.A.: Expert Counsel and Personal Service Right in Our Own Backyard

DeSantis names Supreme Court pick and considers yanking Scott's last-minute appointments

Judge: Gov. Rick Scott violated embattled Broward County election supervisor's rights

Gibson Dunn, Reporters Committee Ask Courts to Unseal Records in Apparent Mueller Subpoena Fight

A Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher team headed by Theodore Boutrous Jr. is asking the U.S. Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit to unseal briefs and transcripts involving a contempt order apparently tied to the special counsel’s Russia investigation.

11 rules were reinstated following
lawsuits and other challenges